{"id":118714,"date":"2023-12-03T04:15:31","date_gmt":"2023-12-03T11:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=118714"},"modified":"2023-12-03T04:19:42","modified_gmt":"2023-12-03T11:19:42","slug":"low-light-american-robin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/03\/low-light-american-robin\/","title":{"rendered":"Low Light American Robin"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When I photographed this American Robin perched in a crabapple tree last winter the light was low, the sky was cloudy, and there was snow on the ground. Snow was also falling from the sky.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-118711 size-full\" title=\"Low light American Robin in a crabapple tree\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372.jpg\" alt=\"Low light American Robin in a crabapple tree, Salt Lake County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27600%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20600%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27600%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372-200x133.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372-250x167.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Low light American Robin in a crabapple tree \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 1250, +2.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>After eating my lunch that day, I drove down to my local pond to see what birds were there. That day marked the first time I spotted and shared my sighting of a leucistic American Coot. It took me a little over four months to get the photos of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/04\/13\/leucistic-american-coot-photos\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">wonky looking coot that I desired<\/span><\/a>. My persistence paid off, and I was thrilled with the resulting photos.<\/p>\n<p>To get this image of this American Robin, I used my Jeep as a mobile blind to photograph this handsome red-breasted bird. If I had been on foot, the robin would likely have flown off. By staying inside my vehicle, the robin appeared to be at ease with my presence. That allowed me to take numerous photos of him without distracting him from noshing on the crabapples.<\/p>\n<p>American Robins are year round residents in northern Utah. During the first few years after I moved here, I didn&#8217;t take many photos of this species. However, these robins hold a special place in my heart as I have a deep childhood connection with them. Consequently, I started paying more attention to them.<\/p>\n<p>As plentiful as <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/American_robin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">American Robins<\/span><\/a> are in North America, there were times when I didn&#8217;t see them for several years in a row during the multiple times that I lived in Germany. Because of that, I learned never to take these &#8216;common&#8217; birds for granted.<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/american-robin-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Robin photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I photographed this American Robin perched in a crabapple tree last winter the light was low, the sky was cloudy, and there was snow on the ground.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":118711,"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":[456,27,709,26],"tags":[4004,2427,6969,6962,6667,7672,1123,156,12646,10698,4104,6642,5199,3844,4881,4427,1048,8018,373],"class_list":["post-118714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-robins","category-avian","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-robin","tag-crabapple","tag-crabapples","tag-fruit","tag-fruits","tag-high-key-2","tag-low-light-2","tag-malus","tag-park","tag-perched","tag-robin","tag-robins","tag-thrush","tag-thrushes","tag-tree","tag-turdus-migratorius","tag-urban","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-uSK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":63734,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/02\/05\/winter-american-robin-foraging-in-a-crabapple-tree\/","url_meta":{"origin":118714,"position":0},"title":"Winter American Robin Foraging In A Crabapple Tree","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I was able to focus on this American Robin as it foraged in the branches of a crabapple tree and took a nice, long series of images of the handsome red-breasted thrush.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Robin eating a ripe Crabapple in winter, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-crabapple-tree-mia-mcpherson-7141.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-crabapple-tree-mia-mcpherson-7141.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-crabapple-tree-mia-mcpherson-7141.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-crabapple-tree-mia-mcpherson-7141.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":109842,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/26\/winter-american-robin-in-a-crabapple\/","url_meta":{"origin":118714,"position":1},"title":"Winter American Robin In A Crabapple","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 26, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"After an overnight snowfall I drove to a grove of crabapples. I photographed this winter American Robin perched in one of the fruit bearing trees in low light.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter American Robin in a crabapple, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/american-robin-crabapple-mia-mcpherson-1297.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/american-robin-crabapple-mia-mcpherson-1297.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/american-robin-crabapple-mia-mcpherson-1297.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/american-robin-crabapple-mia-mcpherson-1297.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56237,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/02\/19\/more-american-robins-with-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":118714,"position":2},"title":"More American Robins With Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"On February 16th I woke to fresh snow on the ground and I knew I wanted to see if the American Robins were still feeding in the crabapple trees close to home.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Robin on a bright winter morning, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4609.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4609.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4609.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4609.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":78323,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/01\/25\/winter-american-robins\/","url_meta":{"origin":118714,"position":3},"title":"Winter American Robins","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"There is a skiff of snow on the ground again this morning and it has reminded me that I should look for winter American Robins feeding on crabapples today.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Robin looking for crabapples in snow, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-6863.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-6863.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-6863.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-6863.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56110,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/02\/13\/an-abundance-of-foraging-american-robins\/","url_meta":{"origin":118714,"position":4},"title":"An Abundance Of Foraging American Robins","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Two afternoons ago when I left the local pond to head home I saw at least 75-100 foraging American Robins in some crabapple trees and on the ground in the snow.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Snowy American Robin swallowing a crabapple whole, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-snow-fruit-mia-mcpherson-2915.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-snow-fruit-mia-mcpherson-2915.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-snow-fruit-mia-mcpherson-2915.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-snow-fruit-mia-mcpherson-2915.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":123309,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/10\/american-robin-on-a-sunny-march-morning\/","url_meta":{"origin":118714,"position":5},"title":"American Robin On A Sunny March Morning","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 10, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the first American Robin that I have photographed in local crabapple trees all winter long. Usually, by March, the crabapples are eaten and long gone.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Robin on a sunny March morning, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-crabapple-tree-sunny-mia-mcpherson-9572.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-crabapple-tree-sunny-mia-mcpherson-9572.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-crabapple-tree-sunny-mia-mcpherson-9572.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-crabapple-tree-sunny-mia-mcpherson-9572.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\/118714","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=118714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}