{"id":129880,"date":"2024-06-28T02:58:54","date_gmt":"2024-06-28T07:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=129880"},"modified":"2024-06-27T16:23:36","modified_gmt":"2024-06-27T21:23:36","slug":"summer-common-grackle-portraits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/06\/28\/summer-common-grackle-portraits\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Common Grackle Portraits"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was happy when I was able to take Common Grackle portraits two days ago in Arkansas. This is a species I only found, identified and pointed out once in Utah<\/span><\/a>. I lived in Utah nearly fifteen years. Common Grackles aren’t common at all there.<\/p>\n

\"CommonCommon Grackle close up at a bird bath \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/640, ISO 1000, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though Common Grackles are abundant in their range, I wish their name didn’t include the word “common.” There are other descriptive words that could have been used. Probably scores of them.<\/p>\n

I’ve mentioned before that I don’t care for the word “common” in the names of birds or other organisms. That is old news to many of you who read what I write here.<\/p>\n

\"CommonCommon Grackle portrait in Arkansas \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/400, ISO 1000, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I believe this grackle is a female because of her brown body plumage. Females are much browner than the males of this species.<\/p>\n

\"CommonCommon Grackle in Arkansas up close \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/400, ISO 1000, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

My main focus was on this grackle, not her gender. She flew in with food in her bill, which she promptly soaked in the water of the bird bath. Thankfully, the grackle stuck around after eating what she had in her bill long enough for me to take a series of portraits.<\/p>\n

The Common Grackles<\/span><\/a> here are actually a bit skittish and take off quickly. I really appreciated having this grackle in front of me for as long as I did! I hadn’t been able to take close-up portraits of this species until two days ago.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I was happy when I was able to take Common Grackle portraits two days ago in Arkansas. This is a species I only found, identified and pointed out once in Utah.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":129871,"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":[13950,27,10695,13951],"tags":[4004,15008,3483,4142,10697,4070,13931,4779,4780,4046,10696,2315,8018,13966],"class_list":["post-129880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-avian","category-common-grackles","category-sebastian-county","tag-adult","tag-bird-bath","tag-blackbirds","tag-close-up","tag-common-grackle","tag-female","tag-garden","tag-grackle","tag-grackles","tag-portrait","tag-quiscalus-quiscula","tag-summer-3","tag-urban","tag-yard"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/common-grackle-portrait-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-5253.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-xMQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":61086,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/10\/30\/male-great-tailed-grackle-portraits\/","url_meta":{"origin":129880,"position":0},"title":"Male Great-tailed Grackle Portraits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't often get to have Great-tailed Grackles in my viewfinder let alone have them close enough to take portraits of them so when the opportunity presents itself, I jump at the chance.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Great-tailed Grackle portrait with grass in the background, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-male-close-up-in-grass-mia-mcpherson-5124.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-male-close-up-in-grass-mia-mcpherson-5124.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-male-close-up-in-grass-mia-mcpherson-5124.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-male-close-up-in-grass-mia-mcpherson-5124.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":114447,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/07\/17\/common-grackle-males-in-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":129880,"position":1},"title":"Common Grackle Males in Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, I am tickled to share three male Common Grackle photos. I took these images in my friend Steve Creek's yard during my visit to Arkansas last month.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Common Grackle male with a surprised look, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/common-grackle-male-mia-mcpherson-4878.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/common-grackle-male-mia-mcpherson-4878.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/common-grackle-male-mia-mcpherson-4878.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/rusty-blackbird-mia-mcpherson-8554.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/rusty-blackbird-mia-mcpherson-8554.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/rusty-blackbird-mia-mcpherson-8554.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/rusty-blackbird-mia-mcpherson-8554.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":150539,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/07\/21\/common-grackle-in-snow-cooling-winter-views\/","url_meta":{"origin":129880,"position":3},"title":"Common Grackle In Snow – Cooling Winter Views","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s been hot here in Arkansas, so I thought I\u2019d share a photo of a striking Common Grackle in the snow because it\u2019s a cooling winter view.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Common Grackle in snow on a winter day, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/common-grackle-adult-male-snow-mia-mcpherson-1393.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/common-grackle-adult-male-snow-mia-mcpherson-1393.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/common-grackle-adult-male-snow-mia-mcpherson-1393.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Anniversary","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is the third anniversary of my uncommon Common Grackle sighting in Utah. I found the grackle perched in a Russian Olive tree next to Glover Pond.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Common Grackle with its bill open, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/common-grackle-adult-glover-pond-mia-mcpheeron-6915.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/common-grackle-adult-glover-pond-mia-mcpheeron-6915.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/common-grackle-adult-glover-pond-mia-mcpheeron-6915.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/common-grackle-adult-glover-pond-mia-mcpheeron-6915.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\/129880","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=129880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}