{"id":147728,"date":"2025-06-05T03:49:23","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T08:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=147728"},"modified":"2025-06-05T03:49:23","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T08:49:23","slug":"male-dickcissel-singing-on-a-cornstalk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/06\/05\/male-dickcissel-singing-on-a-cornstalk\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Dickcissel Singing On A Cornstalk"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dickcissels are back for their breeding season at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a>. Earlier this week, I photographed this adult male Dickcissel singing on a cornstalk in nice morning light.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult male Dickcissel singing on a cornstalk \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/2500, ISO 1000, +0.7 EV, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 371mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

It was fun to listen to this male singing<\/span><\/a> from the top of an old cornstalk, not far from the auto tour route at the refuge.<\/p>\n

Male Dickcissels are chunky, sparrow-sized birds with grayish heads, bright yellow lines above their eyes, and bold black V-shaped patches on their yellow chests. Their backs are brown with dark streaks, and they have distinctive chestnut patches on their shoulders. Their bills are thick and pale.<\/p>\n

During the breeding season, males are easy to spot as they perch on tall grasses or fence posts, loudly singing their sharp, buzzy \u201cdick-dick-ciss-ciss-ciss\u201d songs to attract mates and defend their territories. The species was named for that song.<\/p>\n

I tried to take a video of what I believe was the same Dickcissel much earlier in the morning while it was singing, but there wasn\u2019t enough light at the time. I hope I get the chance to record this species in better light.<\/p>\n

Any time I have a Dickcissel in my viewfinder, I\u2019m one happy woman.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Earlier this week, I photographed this adult male Dickcissel singing on a cornstalk in nice morning light.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":147725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,14015,13973,13974],"tags":[4004,13984,16180,16280,16478,14017,14019,4062,4104,4179,4018,14016,165,4076],"class_list":["post-147728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-dickcissels","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-adult","tag-bottomlands","tag-corn-field","tag-corn-stalk","tag-cornstalk","tag-dickcissel","tag-dickcissels","tag-male","tag-perched","tag-singing-2","tag-sky","tag-spiza-americana","tag-spring","tag-trees"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t