{"id":138670,"date":"2025-01-11T02:32:09","date_gmt":"2025-01-11T08:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=138670"},"modified":"2025-07-07T10:27:16","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T15:27:16","slug":"superb-rusty-blackbird-in-snow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/01\/11\/superb-rusty-blackbird-in-snow\/","title":{"rendered":"Superb Rusty Blackbird In Snow!"},"content":{"rendered":"

When my day starts with snow, an owl hooting in the pitch dark, and a smile on my face, I expect magic. Yesterday, that magic was a Rusty Blackbird in the snow.<\/p>\n

\"LowLow light Rusty Blackbird in snowy conditions \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f7.1, 1\/250, ISO 1000, +2.3 EV, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 371mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Hearing the owl hooting before the sun came up was why I was smiling. Any day I hear, see, or photograph owls is a great day.<\/p>\n

My day got even better when I spotted a dark bird-shaped form on the snow in the low light. I scoped the bird with my lens, and my pulse started racing.<\/p>\n

A Rusty Blackbird was moving toward the seed feeder, and I got busy trying to keep the blackbird in focus while taking photos as it moved toward me through the snow.<\/p>\n

I am fairly certain this Rusty Blackbird is an adult female. But, if I am wrong, please don’t hesitate to correct me. I want to learn.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to expose birds in snow properly, or the images can turn out poorly. My White Balance was set to Auto, and I bumped my exposure setting up to +2.3 so the snow appeared white, not gray, and the bird was well-exposed.<\/p>\n

I took hundreds of images of this Rusty Blackbird because it was only my second time seeing this species through my viewfinder. My first time was in northern Utah a few years ago<\/a><\/span>. I\u2019m certain I will share more photos of this bird another day.<\/p>\n

Rusty Blackbirds have become uncommon, even within their normal range, because this species is in serious decline. Their populations have dropped by 85% to 98% over the past 40 years.<\/p>\n

Having this Rusty Blackbird drop by during a snow event in Arkansas felt magical to me. I hope to see more of these blackbirds soon!<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see my Rusty Blackbird photo gallery plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When my day starts with snow, an owl hooting in the pitch dark, and a smile on my face, I expect magic. Yesterday, that magic was a Rusty Blackbird in the snow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":138667,"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":[13950,10688,13951],"tags":[3813,3483,16155,10689,13981,4136,13931,156,16154,10690,4050,4509,4899,4328,15824,373,13966],"class_list":["post-138670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-rusty-blackbirds","category-sebastian-county","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-conditions","tag-euphagus-carolinus","tag-feeder","tag-foraging","tag-garden","tag-low-light-2","tag-probable-female","tag-rusty-blackbird","tag-snow","tag-snow-storm","tag-snowstorm","tag-snowy","tag-suburban","tag-winter","tag-yard"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/rusty-blackbird-probable-female-snow-mia-mcpherson-7912.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-A4C","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":166679,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/11\/rusty-blackbird-and-snow-in-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":138670,"position":0},"title":"Rusty Blackbird And Snow In Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 11, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"One year ago today I sat on my friend Steve Creek's deck with at least 10 inches of snow on the ground, photographing birds, including this sharp looking Rusty Blackbird.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rusty Blackbird foraging in deep snow, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/rusty-blackbird-arkansas-snow-mia-mcpherson-0799.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/rusty-blackbird-arkansas-snow-mia-mcpherson-0799.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/rusty-blackbird-arkansas-snow-mia-mcpherson-0799.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/rusty-blackbird-arkansas-snow-mia-mcpherson-0799.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":139714,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/02\/10\/my-first-winter-in-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":138670,"position":1},"title":"My First Winter In Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Spring is only 38 days away, and I\u2019m wrapping up my first winter in Arkansas with a sense of appreciation for this new landscape and environment.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rusty Blackbird in deep snow, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/rusty-blackbird-female-snow-winter-mia-mcpherson-7903.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/rusty-blackbird-female-snow-winter-mia-mcpherson-7903.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/rusty-blackbird-female-snow-winter-mia-mcpherson-7903.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/rusty-blackbird-female-snow-winter-mia-mcpherson-7903.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":138760,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/01\/14\/female-red-winged-blackbirds-in-fog-and-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":138670,"position":2},"title":"Female Red-winged Blackbirds In Fog And Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"After the recent snowstorm in Arkansas, I photographed several female Red-winged Blackbirds in foggy, snowy conditions. I had a great time taking their photos.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Red-winged Blackbirds in fog and snow, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/red-winged-blackbird-females-snow-fog-mia-mcpherson-9324.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/red-winged-blackbird-females-snow-fog-mia-mcpherson-9324.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/red-winged-blackbird-females-snow-fog-mia-mcpherson-9324.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":49405,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/11\/12\/female-brewers-blackbird-with-light-colored-eyes\/","url_meta":{"origin":138670,"position":4},"title":"Female Brewer’s Blackbird With Light Colored Eyes?","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Within the flock of blackbirds there was a female Brewer's Blackbird that drew my attention to her because she had light colored eyes and stood out from the other females that were nearby.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Brewer's Blackbird with light eyes","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/brewers-blackbird-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-1833.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/brewers-blackbird-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-1833.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/brewers-blackbird-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-1833.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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