{"id":15193,"date":"2014-06-12T04:35:09","date_gmt":"2014-06-12T10:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=15193"},"modified":"2025-11-07T17:16:37","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T23:16:37","slug":"portrait-of-a-male-long-billed-curlew-and-a-western-kingbird-display","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/06\/12\/portrait-of-a-male-long-billed-curlew-and-a-western-kingbird-display\/","title":{"rendered":"Portrait Of A Male Long-billed Curlew And A Western Kingbird Display"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale Long-billed Curlew portrait – Nikon D7100, f9, 1\/1000, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning\u00a0I had\u00a0Western Kingbirds and Long-billed Curlews in my viewfinder on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a>. The light was lovely and\u00a0there was a slight breeze that kept the biting gnats (no-see-ums) at bay.<\/p>\n

The Curlews eggs have hatched and their chicks are roaming around nearly hidden in the grass, they are very difficult to photograph because of their size, the height of the vegetation and how they blend in so well with the habitat.<\/p>\n

The adults do stand out well though and this male came in so close to the vehicle that I was able to take several portraits of it. The female curlews often leave the male to raise the chicks after a period of time.<\/p>\n

\"WesternWestern Kingbird courtship display – Nikon D7100, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm natural light<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Western Kingbirds arrive in Utah later than the curlews do and the kingbirds\u00a0are just now building nests and courting.<\/p>\n

This male kingbird\u00a0opened its wings and fanned its tail while calling when the\u00a0female came in view of the nesting location with nesting material.<\/p>\n

Only the female Western Kingbirds build the nest, incubate and brood the young. The males sure have it easy! The kingbirds are fun to photograph but they are also unpredictable and move fast so they can be frustrating subjects.<\/p>\n

It won’t be too long before the Western Kingbirds will also have young to look after.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my bird photos in their galleries.<\/p>\n

PS, I don’t give out nest locations for the safety and well being of the birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday morning I had Western Kingbirds and Long-billed Curlews in my viewfinder on Antelope Island State Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":163099,"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":[511,27,1022,199,26,534],"tags":[4004,2158,4808,4809,9404,779,3808,4884,3791,3772,4132,4062,4133,4046,274,4183,4411],"class_list":["post-15193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-long-billed-curlews","category-utah","category-western-kingbirds","tag-adult","tag-courtship-display","tag-curlew","tag-curlews","tag-display","tag-displaying","tag-flycatcher","tag-flycatchers","tag-kingbird","tag-kingbirds","tag-long-billed-curlew","tag-male","tag-numenius-americanus","tag-portrait","tag-shorebirds-2","tag-tyrannus-verticalis","tag-western-kingbird"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-mia-mcpherson-2776.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-3X3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":101253,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/31\/spring-long-billed-curlew-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":15193,"position":0},"title":"Spring Long-billed Curlew Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 31, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I spotted and pointed out this Long-billed Curlew foraging and calling in the grasses of the north end of 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":"Alert male Long-billed Curlew in soft morning light, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-6441.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-6441.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-6441.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-male-spring-mia-mcpherson-6441.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4785,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/14\/long-billed-curlews-a-territorial-encounter\/","url_meta":{"origin":15193,"position":1},"title":"Long-billed Curlews – A Territorial Encounter","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 14, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday on Antelope Island State Park I witnessed and photographed a territorial encounter between two Long-billed Curlew (Numenius americanus) males that occurred while a female was nearby.","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":"Long-billed Curlew Appeasement behavior on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-fight-mia-mcpherson-3803.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-fight-mia-mcpherson-3803.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-fight-mia-mcpherson-3803.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-fight-mia-mcpherson-3803.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14602,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/03\/23\/the-long-billed-curlews-are-back-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":15193,"position":2},"title":"Long-billed Curlews Are Back In Utah!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 23, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw my first of the year Long-billed Curlews two days ago on Antelope Island State Park flying overhead. They weren't close enough to photograph but I know that soon I will have them in my viewfinder again.","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":"Curlew walking the shore of the Gulf of Mexico at Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-6031.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-6031.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-shoreline-mia-mcpherson-6031.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\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-grasses-mia-mcpherson-0324.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-grasses-mia-mcpherson-0324.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-grasses-mia-mcpherson-0324.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-grasses-mia-mcpherson-0324.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5277,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/03\/calling-male-long-billed-curlew\/","url_meta":{"origin":15193,"position":4},"title":"Calling male Long-billed Curlew","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I haven't heard a Long-billed Curlew calling for several weeks here in northern Utah and I already miss hearing their calls.","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":"Male Long-billed Curlew calling, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-calling-mia-mcpherson-3632.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-calling-mia-mcpherson-3632.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/long-billed-curlew-calling-mia-mcpherson-3632.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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