{"id":127189,"date":"2024-04-05T04:27:27","date_gmt":"2024-04-05T10:27:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=127189"},"modified":"2024-04-05T04:27:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-05T10:27:44","slug":"female-great-tailed-grackle-with-her-eyes-aglow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/04\/05\/female-great-tailed-grackle-with-her-eyes-aglow\/","title":{"rendered":"Female Great-tailed Grackle With Her Eyes Aglow"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I was at my local pond two days ago, I couldn’t resist photographing a female Great-tailed Grackle whose eyes seemed to be aglow in the morning light.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Great-tailed Grackle with her eyes aglow \u2013 Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f13, 1\/125, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This female Great-tailed Grackle<\/span><\/a> had flown in and landed on the railing of a floating fishing platform that I was on. She was too close to me to take full-body photos, so I opted for taking portraits of her. The female grackle was slightly east of where I stood behind my tripod on the fishing platform.<\/p>\n

When she was in my viewfinder, I couldn’t help but notice how her eyes glowed in the bright morning light.<\/p>\n

This female grackle was searching for nesting materials, as were many of the other females I saw that morning. The male grackles in the area were displaying in the trees and on the ground.<\/p>\n

I noticed a few female grackles perching in the trees where the males were displaying, but even then, they didn’t seem to pay much attention to the males at all. They did call a few times; I am not sure why, though.<\/p>\n

The females were solely focused on building the nests where they will raise their young this year.<\/p>\n

When I first moved to Utah, I didn’t see or photograph this grackle species very often. Since that time, I’ve seen these grackles breed near this local pond every year.<\/p>\n

I enjoy having these fascinating grackles in my viewfinder and listening to their song and calls<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Last year at this time, I was primarily focused on the Common Loons<\/span><\/a> that showed up at my local pond. Without the excitement of the migrating loons, I found time to focus on the grackles again!<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

When I was at my local pond two days ago, I couldn’t resist photographing a female Great-tailed Grackle whose eyes seemed to be aglow in the morning light.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":127167,"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":[27,426,709,26],"tags":[4004,13309,3813,3483,4142,4787,4070,14549,4779,4780,2429,4046,4778,165,8018],"class_list":["post-127189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-great-tailed-grackles","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-aglow","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-close-up","tag-eyes","tag-female","tag-glow","tag-grackle","tag-grackles","tag-great-tailed-grackle","tag-portrait","tag-quiscalus-mexicanus","tag-spring","tag-urban"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/great-tailed-grackle-female-eyes-aglow-mia-mcpherson-1901.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-x5r","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100863,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/16\/it-is-great-tailed-grackle-breeding-season\/","url_meta":{"origin":127189,"position":0},"title":"It Is Great-tailed Grackle Breeding Season","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 16, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a fun time at my local pond yesterday because it is Great-tailed Grackle breeding season and photographing these grackles kept me on my toes.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Four Great-tailed Grackle males displaying, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-adult-male-displaying-2538.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-adult-male-displaying-2538.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-adult-male-displaying-2538.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-adult-male-displaying-2538.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":112869,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/04\/23\/female-great-tailed-grackle-iris-variation\/","url_meta":{"origin":127189,"position":1},"title":"Female Great-tailed Grackle Iris Variation","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"While I photographed Common Loons at my local park this month I also took some female Great-tailed Grackle images and today I am sharing two of them.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Great-tailed Grackle Iris Variation, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/great-tailed-grackle-female-spring-eyes-mia-mcpherson-7271-9130.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/great-tailed-grackle-female-spring-eyes-mia-mcpherson-7271-9130.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/great-tailed-grackle-female-spring-eyes-mia-mcpherson-7271-9130.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/great-tailed-grackle-female-spring-eyes-mia-mcpherson-7271-9130.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55054,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/20\/female-great-tailed-grackle-portrait-in-afternoon-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":127189,"position":2},"title":"Female Great-tailed Grackle Portrait In Afternoon Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This female Great-tailed Grackle was the first bird I photographed yesterday and she was so close to me that I opted to take portraits of her in the nice afternoon light at my local pond.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Great-tailed Grackle portrait, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-female-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0801.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-female-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0801.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-female-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0801.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-female-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0801.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":113193,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/05\/female-great-tailed-grackle-portraits\/","url_meta":{"origin":127189,"position":3},"title":"Female Great-tailed Grackle Portraits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"On the last day of April, I had a bit of good luck when a female Great-tailed Grackle walked so close to me at a local pond that I could take portraits of her.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Springtime female Great-tailed Grackle portrait, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/great-tailed-grackle-female-spring-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5530.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/great-tailed-grackle-female-spring-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5530.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/great-tailed-grackle-female-spring-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5530.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/great-tailed-grackle-female-spring-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5530.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55374,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/12\/21\/great-tailed-grackle-close-up-in-late-afternoon-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":127189,"position":4},"title":"Great-tailed Grackle Close Up In Late Afternoon Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm glad I had a few seconds to photograph this Great-tailed Grackle up close in the warm afternoon light before it was flushed and flew away.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great-tailed Grackle close up, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-close-up-afternoon-mia-mcpherson-6043.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-close-up-afternoon-mia-mcpherson-6043.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-close-up-afternoon-mia-mcpherson-6043.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-close-up-afternoon-mia-mcpherson-6043.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":111340,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/19\/urban-bird-male-great-tailed-grackle\/","url_meta":{"origin":127189,"position":5},"title":"Urban Bird: Male Great-tailed Grackle","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"While I was walking around my local pond three days ago I enjoyed having a male Great-tailed Grackle in my viewfinder for a bit. He was strolling along nearby.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Great-tailed Grackle going for a stroll, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-urban-mia-mcpherson-6010.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-urban-mia-mcpherson-6010.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-urban-mia-mcpherson-6010.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-urban-mia-mcpherson-6010.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\/127189","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=127189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}