{"id":14750,"date":"2014-04-14T05:32:57","date_gmt":"2014-04-14T11:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=14750"},"modified":"2025-05-23T11:15:59","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T16:15:59","slug":"black-billed-magpie-in-flight-over-antelope-island-state-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/04\/14\/black-billed-magpie-in-flight-over-antelope-island-state-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Black-billed Magpie in flight over Antelope Island State Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Black-billedBlack-billed Magpie with wings fully spread in flight – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR at 380mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

In all my visits to Antelope Island State Park I don’t think there has been a single time when I haven’t seen or heard Black-billed Magpies.<\/p>\n

There are times I don’t see the other year round residents of the island including the Bison and Pronghorn but I can always count on seeing magpies.<\/p>\n

Black-billed Magpies have rather noisy calls<\/span><\/a> and some people find that annoying but I don’t mind their calls at all.<\/p>\n

They are elegant looking birds with their strongly marked black and white plumage, their long tails and the flashes of iridescence in certain light.<\/p>\n

In this image I was able to capture that iridescence in almost all of the magpie’s dark plumage as it flew away from it’s nest with mud on it’s bill.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

In all my visits to Antelope Island State Park I don’t think there has been a single time when I haven’t seen or heard Black-billed Magpies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":146364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,245,26],"tags":[4004,1813,3981,11978,4052,4122,2148,2151,9070,6005,4842,4167],"class_list":["post-14750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-black-billed-magpies","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-black-billed-magpie","tag-davis-county","tag-desert-island","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-iridescence","tag-iridescent-colors","tag-island","tag-magpie","tag-magpies","tag-pica-hudsonia"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-flight-mia-mcpherson-4721.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-3PU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":121645,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/02\/20\/black-billed-magpie-with-nesting-materials\/","url_meta":{"origin":14750,"position":0},"title":"Black-billed Magpie With Nesting Materials","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"It was my first full spring in Utah, nearly 14 years ago, when my keen eyes were used to find my first Black-billed Magpie nest on Antelope Island State Park.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black-billed Magpie in flight with nesting material for its nest, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/black-billed-magpie-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-7510.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/black-billed-magpie-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-7510.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/black-billed-magpie-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-7510.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/black-billed-magpie-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-7510.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36979,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/03\/10\/an-immature-black-billed-magpie-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":14750,"position":1},"title":"An Immature Black-billed Magpie in Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this immature Black-billed Magpie in flight last September on Antelope Island State Park as it flew over a rabbitbrush that was just about to bloom.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Black-billed Magpie in flight, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-3642.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-3642.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Partially Leucistic Black-billed Magpie landing on Greasewood, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/black-billed-magpie-leucistic-mia-mcpherson-0732.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/black-billed-magpie-leucistic-mia-mcpherson-0732.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/black-billed-magpie-leucistic-mia-mcpherson-0732.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/black-billed-magpie-leucistic-mia-mcpherson-0732.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/black-billed-magpie-nesting-mia-mcpherson-9082.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/black-billed-magpie-nesting-mia-mcpherson-9082.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/black-billed-magpie-nesting-mia-mcpherson-9082.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/black-billed-magpie-nesting-mia-mcpherson-9082.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47820,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/07\/28\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-perched-on-a-sign-on-antelope-island\/","url_meta":{"origin":14750,"position":4},"title":"Black-billed Magpie Juvenile Perched On A Sign on Antelope Island","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"There was a tribe of juvenile Black-billed Magpies on Antelope Island State Park yesterday down near White Rock Bay that were wandering around in the area near the Buffalo Point trailhead","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Black-billed Magpie juvenile perched on an informational sign, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-sign-mia-mcpherson-8735.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-sign-mia-mcpherson-8735.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 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