{"id":117825,"date":"2023-11-05T04:14:11","date_gmt":"2023-11-05T11:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=117825"},"modified":"2023-11-05T04:25:00","modified_gmt":"2023-11-05T11:25:00","slug":"male-red-winged-blackbird-and-a-saltcedar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/05\/male-red-winged-blackbird-and-a-saltcedar\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Red-winged Blackbird And A Saltcedar"},"content":{"rendered":"

I saw this male Red-winged Blackbird perched in a Saltcedar on my last trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> and felt I had to stop to photograph him.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Red-winged Blackbird perched in a Saltcedar \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Saltcedars are introduced shrubs that are also called salt cedar or tamarisk. Despite the invasive tendencies of this shrub, I loved the setting this blackbird was perched in. The delicate and lacy leaves provided a nice contrast to the sleek black plumage of the bird.<\/p>\n

I had beautiful light on the blackbird that morning. In fact, the light was gorgeous throughout the entire morning and ideal for photographing my favorite subjects, which are the birds I find wherever I go.<\/p>\n

\"Red-wingedRed-winged Blackbird male in a Saltcedar \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I saw Red-winged Blackbirds<\/span><\/a> in many locations at the refuge that morning, but only this one was perched in a Saltcedar.<\/p>\n

Just beyond my viewfinder, dozens of other blackbirds were foraging for breakfast in the marsh. Some of the males were even singing from the tops of frost-tipped phragmites. After photographing this male, I sat quietly in my Jeep, listening to their songs while my eyes absorbed the stunning scenery of the refuge.<\/p>\n

It won’t be long before it snows, and the refuge will become quieter because fewer people will venture out onto the auto tour loop. I look forward to that time; I love the tranquility of winter at the refuge. This gorgeous oasis in the desert has come to mean quite a bit to me since I moved to Utah.<\/p>\n

I hope that this refuge survives the impacts of climate change. If it doesn’t, that would be beyond tragic for the birds and animals at the refuge, and people as well.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Red-winged Blackbird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I saw this male Red-winged Blackbird perched in a Saltcedar on my last trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and felt I had to stop to photograph him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117819,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,27,1148,419,26],"tags":[4004,4151,970,3813,3483,4620,686,4062,4094,6853,4104,4324,5154,14556,14557,4095],"class_list":["post-117825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-red-winged-blackbirds","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-agelaius-phoeniceus","tag-autumn","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-fall","tag-introduced","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-nonnative","tag-perched","tag-red-winged-blackbird","tag-salt-cedar","tag-saltcedar","tag-tamarisks","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-saltcedar-mia-mcpherson-6081.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-uEp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":110715,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/04\/singing-red-winged-blackbird-male\/","url_meta":{"origin":117825,"position":0},"title":"Singing Red-winged Blackbird Male","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"After my long and photo heavy Tundra Swan post yesterday I am keeping my post today simple. I'm sharing a single photo of a singing Red-winged Blackbird male.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Singing male Red-winged Blackbird on the bank of the Bear River, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-5359.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-adult-singing-mia-mcpherson-5359.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Singing male Red-winged Blackbird on a refuge sign","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-refuge-mia-mcpherson-5066.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-refuge-mia-mcpherson-5066.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-refuge-mia-mcpherson-5066.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-refuge-mia-mcpherson-5066.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/red-winged-blackbird-male-crooner-mia-mcpherson-1435.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/red-winged-blackbird-male-crooner-mia-mcpherson-1435.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/red-winged-blackbird-male-crooner-mia-mcpherson-1435.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/red-winged-blackbird-male-crooner-mia-mcpherson-1435.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100179,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/24\/singing-male-red-winged-blackbird\/","url_meta":{"origin":117825,"position":3},"title":"Singing Male Red-winged Blackbird And A Birthday Wish","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this singing male Red-winged Blackbird earlier this month while enjoying the marshes and wetlands of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Singing male Red-winged Blackbird at Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-7320.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-singing-mia-mcpherson-7320.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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I was only able to get a few images before this blackbird flew away.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Autumn Red-winged Blackbird, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-mia-mcpherson-5922.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-mia-mcpherson-5922.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-mia-mcpherson-5922.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":37993,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/04\/09\/first-spring-red-winged-blackbird-males\/","url_meta":{"origin":117825,"position":5},"title":"First Spring Red-winged Blackbird Males","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I was able to photograph several first spring Red-winged Blackbird males.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"First spring male Red-winged Blackbird back view, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5353.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5353.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5353.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-5353.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/117819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}