{"id":137887,"date":"2024-12-16T02:41:06","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T08:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=137887"},"modified":"2025-07-07T10:51:31","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T15:51:31","slug":"mesmerizing-red-winged-blackbird-murmurations-at-sequoyah-nwr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/12\/16\/mesmerizing-red-winged-blackbird-murmurations-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","title":{"rendered":"Mesmerizing Red-winged Blackbird Murmurations At Sequoyah NWR"},"content":{"rendered":"

This morning, I’m sharing one photo that I took of the Red-winged Blackbird murmurations I saw on my last trip to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a> in Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

\"Red-wingedRed-winged Blackbird murmuration \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/640, ISO 800, -0.7 EV, Canon 100-400mm at 360mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The light wasn\u2019t ideal, but I made do with the conditions I had. What I really wanted to highlight was the sheer mass of birds in just a small section of the murmuration. I wouldn\u2019t even try to estimate how many blackbirds were in this area of the refuge, let alone in this single frame.<\/p>\n

I know the majority of the blackbirds in this image are Red-winged Blackbirds, but there may be Common Grackles, Yellow-headed Blackbirds, and Rusty Blackbirds mixed in with the flock. Even though I carefully looked through the larger, original file to spot any of those species, I gave up after a little while, there were just too many birds.<\/p>\n

I also attempted several videos of blackbird murmurations, but the wind noise was extremely annoying, and holding the camera by hand resulted in many jittery videos. Those will be deleted.<\/p>\n

The thing is, I really, really love taking photos of bird murmurations. Whether they are shorebirds like phalaropes, European Starlings, Red-winged Blackbirds, or other bird species, these murmurations<\/span><\/a> mesmerize and fascinate me.<\/p>\n

The murmurations are visual and, quite often, auditory delights. Even when the birds aren’t calling, the whoosh of their wings when or if they fly overhead tickles my auditory senses.<\/p>\n

These blackbirds were calling, and I could hear the sound of their wings from a distance as well.<\/p>\n

While I wish the light had been better last week, I know large flocks of blackbirds will be hanging around the refuge for some time yet. Hopefully, I will have more chances to photograph and video them in the weeks to come.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

This morning, I’m sharing one photo that I took of the Red-winged Blackbird murmurations I saw on my last trip to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":137884,"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":[13973,419,13974],"tags":[4151,970,3813,3483,14190,13984,4620,1124,4052,4247,4122,1637,4324,4076],"class_list":["post-137887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oklahoma","category-red-winged-blackbirds","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-agelaius-phoeniceus","tag-autumn","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-bottomland-hardwood-forest","tag-bottomlands","tag-fall","tag-field","tag-flight","tag-flock","tag-flying","tag-murmuration","tag-red-winged-blackbird","tag-trees"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/red-winged-blackbird-murmuration-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-7362.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-zRZ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":169430,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/02\/18\/snow-geese-and-red-winged-blackbird-flocks-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":137887,"position":0},"title":"Snow 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Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I spent some time with thousands, and thousands, of blackbirds on the auto tour route of Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge just as the sun came over the horizon.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male Red-winged Blackbird glowing in early morning light, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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I was able to take a video of a large flock of blackbirds lifting off.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Foraging flock of blackbirds at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-winged-blackbird-flock-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3755.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-winged-blackbird-flock-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3755.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-winged-blackbird-flock-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3755.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-winged-blackbird-flock-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3755.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110715,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/04\/singing-red-winged-blackbird-male\/","url_meta":{"origin":137887,"position":5},"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. 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