{"id":141525,"date":"2025-03-12T02:31:50","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T07:31:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=141525"},"modified":"2025-07-07T12:22:38","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T17:22:38","slug":"male-red-winged-blackbird-on-corn-stalks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/12\/male-red-winged-blackbird-on-corn-stalks\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Red-winged Blackbird On Corn Stalks"},"content":{"rendered":"

On my most recent trip to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I photographed an immature male Red-winged Blackbird perched on a corn stalk in a field.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Red-winged Blackbird perched on a corn stalk \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/2500, ISO 1250, +0.7 EV, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 400mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

That might not seem like a big thing, but for me, it kind of is.<\/p>\n

Red-winged Blackbirds enjoy eating corn in unharvested fields during the fall and winter, and these two photos? They represent the first images of this species in my gallery where they are perched on corn stalks.<\/p>\n

\"YoungYoung male Red-winged Blackbird at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/3200, ISO 1250, +0.7 EV, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 400mm, natural light\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve photographed Red-winged Blackbirds eating wild and cultivated sunflower seeds. I’ve taken photos of them eating rabbitbrush seeds, greasewood seeds, picking ticks or insects off American Bison, and snatching midges out of the air.<\/p>\n

I’ve photographed these blackbirds in many types of habitats too, just never in a cornfield before.<\/p>\n

So, yes, it\u2019s kind of a big thing for me.<\/p>\n

At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a>, farmers do plant crops in refuge fields. The refuge features a variety of habitats that help maintain its rich, healthy soils, including wetlands, bottomland hardwood forests, and upland prairies.<\/p>\n

Wetlands are particularly beneficial, helping filter and enrich soil nutrients, while hardwood forests and prairies contribute organic matter and promote biodiversity, supporting soil health overall.<\/p>\n

Each ecosystem plays a vital role in maintaining the refuge’s ecological balance and soil fertility.<\/p>\n

There are still plenty of male Red-winged Blackbirds at the refuge, and I\u2019m starting to see the females show up too. Some of them will nest here, while others will migrate to different breeding grounds.<\/p>\n

Spring is creeping up on us. I saw a high of 82\u00b0F yesterday, almost time to put my winter coat in storage!<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

On my most recent trip to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I photographed an immature male Red-winged Blackbird perched on a corn stalk in a field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141519,"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":[27,13973,419,13974],"tags":[4151,3813,3483,13984,16180,16280,1124,2450,4067,4062,14021,4104,4324,14020,373,4193],"class_list":["post-141525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-oklahoma","category-red-winged-blackbirds","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-agelaius-phoeniceus","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-bottomlands","tag-corn-field","tag-corn-stalk","tag-field","tag-first-winter","tag-immature","tag-male","tag-oklahoma","tag-perched","tag-red-winged-blackbird","tag-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-winter","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-end-winter-mia-mcpherson-7443.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-AOF","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":141525,"position":0},"title":"Snow Geese and Red-winged Blackbird Flocks at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"On my recent trip to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, the subjects I focused on most were Snow Geese and Red-winged Blackbird flocks on the auto tour route.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Flock of Red-winged Blackbirds flying over a large flock of Snow Geese, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/snow-geese-red-winged-blackbird-flocks-mia-mcpherson-8588.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/snow-geese-red-winged-blackbird-flocks-mia-mcpherson-8588.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/snow-geese-red-winged-blackbird-flocks-mia-mcpherson-8588.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/snow-geese-red-winged-blackbird-flocks-mia-mcpherson-8588.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":168844,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/02\/10\/thousands-of-blackbirds-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":141525,"position":1},"title":"Thousands Of Blackbirds At 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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":137887,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/12\/16\/mesmerizing-red-winged-blackbird-murmurations-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":141525,"position":2},"title":"Mesmerizing Red-winged Blackbird Murmurations At Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Oklahoma"","block_context":{"text":"Oklahoma","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-winged Blackbird murmuration, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/red-winged-blackbird-murmuration-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-7362.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/red-winged-blackbird-murmuration-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-7362.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/red-winged-blackbird-murmuration-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-7362.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/red-winged-blackbird-murmuration-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-7362.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":166404,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/05\/videos-of-winter-blackbirds-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":141525,"position":3},"title":"Videos Of Winter Blackbirds At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 5, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"On the last day of 2025 I visited Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. 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":137487,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/11\/26\/red-winged-blackbird-flock-video-clip-from-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":141525,"position":4},"title":"Red-winged Blackbird Flock Video Clip From Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I meant to share this Red-winged Blackbird video clip earlier, but I hadn\u2019t gotten around to merging the two videos and processing them until last night.","rel":"","context":"In "Davis County"","block_context":{"text":"Davis County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/davis-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Red-winged Blackbird displaying on the marsh, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-adult-male-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-3846.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-adult-male-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-3846.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-adult-male-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-3846.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-adult-male-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-3846.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":117825,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/05\/male-red-winged-blackbird-and-a-saltcedar\/","url_meta":{"origin":141525,"position":5},"title":"Male Red-winged Blackbird And A Saltcedar","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw this male Red-winged Blackbird perched in a Saltcedar on my last trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and felt I had to stop to photograph him.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Red-winged Blackbird perched in a Saltcedar, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-saltcedar-mia-mcpherson-6081.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-saltcedar-mia-mcpherson-6081.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-saltcedar-mia-mcpherson-6081.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-saltcedar-mia-mcpherson-6081.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\/141525","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=141525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}