{"id":15385,"date":"2014-07-12T05:53:15","date_gmt":"2014-07-12T11:53:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=15385"},"modified":"2022-03-14T17:47:39","modified_gmt":"2022-03-14T23:47:39","slug":"a-foraging-savannah-sparrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/07\/12\/a-foraging-savannah-sparrow\/","title":{"rendered":"Foraging Savannah Sparrow"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-100704 size-full\" title=\"Savannah Sparrow foraging for prey\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-foraging-mia-mcpherson-9648.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-foraging-mia-mcpherson-9648.jpg\" alt=\"Savannah Sparrow foraging for prey, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-foraging-mia-mcpherson-9648-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-foraging-mia-mcpherson-9648-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-foraging-mia-mcpherson-9648-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-foraging-mia-mcpherson-9648-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-foraging-mia-mcpherson-9648-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-foraging-mia-mcpherson-9648-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-foraging-mia-mcpherson-9648-800x571.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-foraging-mia-mcpherson-9648.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Savannah Sparrow foraging for prey &#8211; Nikon D7100, 1\/2000, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited or called in<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month while I was in Montana I spent time photographing some Savannah Sparrows at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fws.gov\/refuge\/red_rock_lakes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a>. Quite often I hear these beautiful little sparrows before I see them and I don&#8217;t need to see them to know that they are around. Their songs can be heard <a href=\"http:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/guide\/savannah_sparrow\/sounds\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0 The Savannahs that I photographed were foraging by the shore of the Lower Lake on the refuge and several times I saw the adult feeding a fledgling or flying to a hidden nest and feeding the nestlings there.\u00a0The sparrows were quite unafraid to come close to the vehicle and at times even with my limiter turned off\u00a0they would come so close I couldn&#8217;t focus on the quick moving bird.<\/p>\n<p>I have only processed this one Savannah Sparrow image because I have been very busy but I do have some that I will post later of the prey the sparrow found and some of the fledgling begging or being fed. I liked the way the sparrow was looking at me in this frame, it&#8217;s pose and the great eye contact. I wish I could have gotten to a lower angle but that is hard to do when you are inside a &#8220;mobile&#8221; blind.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/savannah-sparrow-images\/\">here<\/a><\/span> to view more of my Savannah Sparrow photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier this month while I was in Montana I spent time photographing some Savannah Sparrows at Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":100704,"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":[1513,27,223,12,608,831],"tags":[4004,4026,4136,5178,11385,4094,4194,229,855,4195,5434],"class_list":["post-15385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beaverhead-county-montana","category-avian","category-centennial-valley","category-montana","category-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge","category-savannah-sparrows","tag-adult","tag-centennial-valley","tag-foraging","tag-lake","tag-lakeside","tag-marsh","tag-passerculus-sandwichensis","tag-savannah-sparrow","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-valley"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-foraging-mia-mcpherson-9648.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-409","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2775,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/07\/18\/the-savannah-sparrows-of-red-rock-lakes-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":15385,"position":0},"title":"The Savannah Sparrows of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"These Savannah Sparrows were nearly as much fun to observe as they were to photograph. They are very active birds and it was a challenge to keep up with them","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Savannah Sparrow wing stretch, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-fluttering-mia-mcpherson-7466.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-fluttering-mia-mcpherson-7466.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-fluttering-mia-mcpherson-7466.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-fluttering-mia-mcpherson-7466.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47806,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/07\/26\/centennial-valley-savannah-sparrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":15385,"position":1},"title":"Centennial Valley Savannah Sparrow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Some of the birds I see often while at the Lower Lake of Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana are Savannah Sparrows and I love to photograph them there.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Beaverhead County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Centennial Valley Savannah Sparrow on Greasewood, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-9497.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-9497.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-9497.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-9497.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45693,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/03\/20\/spring-songs-savannah-sparrows\/","url_meta":{"origin":15385,"position":2},"title":"Spring Songs &#8211; Savannah Sparrows","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"On my last two trips up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I have heard Savannah Sparrows singing \"sit sit sit sit suh-EEEEE say\" from somewhere in the marshes.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Beaverhead County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Savannah Sparrow on fence railing, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-montana-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-montana-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-montana-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-montana-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":131967,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/08\/07\/savannah-sparrow-in-the-centennial-valley-of-montana\/","url_meta":{"origin":15385,"position":3},"title":"Savannah Sparrow In The Centennial Valley Of Montana","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 7, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I was looking through some older files for an image licensing request when I came across this photo of a Savannah Sparrow that I took in Montana in 2016.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Beaverhead County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Savannah Sparrow in the Centennial Valley of Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/savannah-sparrow-adult-centennial-valley-montana-mia-mcpherson-2019.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/savannah-sparrow-adult-centennial-valley-montana-mia-mcpherson-2019.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/savannah-sparrow-adult-centennial-valley-montana-mia-mcpherson-2019.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/savannah-sparrow-adult-centennial-valley-montana-mia-mcpherson-2019.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":70937,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/06\/17\/female-brown-headed-cowbird-in-a-serviceberry\/","url_meta":{"origin":15385,"position":4},"title":"Female Brown-headed Cowbird In A Serviceberry","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Three days ago one of the birds that the Song Sparrows chased off was an adult female Brown-headed Cowbird that landed on a serviceberry in front of me.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Beaverhead County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Brown-headed Cowbird perched in a Utah Serviceberry, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/brown-headed-cowbird-female-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-6004.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/brown-headed-cowbird-female-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-6004.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/brown-headed-cowbird-female-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-6004.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/brown-headed-cowbird-female-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-6004.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":142772,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/04\/11\/savannah-sparrow-in-a-breeze\/","url_meta":{"origin":15385,"position":5},"title":"Savannah Sparrow In A Breeze","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been seeing and hearing Savannah Sparrows for weeks now. Yesterday, I had this Savannah Sparrow in my viewfinder at Sequoyah NWR in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring Savannah Sparrow in a breeze, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/savannah-sparrow-spring-vine-mia-mcpherson-4939.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/savannah-sparrow-spring-vine-mia-mcpherson-4939.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/savannah-sparrow-spring-vine-mia-mcpherson-4939.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/savannah-sparrow-spring-vine-mia-mcpherson-4939.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\/15385","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=15385"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15385\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}