{"id":15540,"date":"2014-08-02T04:40:22","date_gmt":"2014-08-02T10:40:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=15540"},"modified":"2024-08-06T04:04:34","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T09:04:34","slug":"a-teenage-black-billed-magpie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/08\/02\/a-teenage-black-billed-magpie\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature Black-billed Magpie"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JuvenileJuvenile Black-billed Magpie – Nikon D7100, f9, 1\/1250, ISO 320, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Right now\u00a0on Antelope Island State Park<\/a><\/span> teenaged (or immature) birds are molting into their adult plumage including young Black-billed Magpies. The immature birds tend to look a little scruffy, some might even say they have a moth-eaten appearance, but I enjoy photographing them any way.<\/p>\n

This young Black-billed Magpie has almost all of its adult primary feathers and will soon replace the worn one closest to the twig it is perched on. The tail is noticeably shorter than an adult magpie but that too will soon change. \u00a0The eye color will also change from the dark violet-blue to black.<\/p>\n

By winter this bird will have molted into the adult plumage we are so familiar with.<\/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":"

Right now on Antelope Island State Park teenaged birds are molting into their adult plumage including young Black-billed Magpies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131906,"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":[511,27,245,1022,26],"tags":[1813,3194,11978,4067,4071,6005,4842,2312,2313,4167,1053,2318,4362,3964,2315,6285,9071,4521,4193],"class_list":["post-15540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-black-billed-magpies","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","tag-black-billed-magpie","tag-corvids","tag-desert-island","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-magpie","tag-magpies","tag-molt","tag-molting","tag-pica-hudsonia","tag-plumage","tag-primaries","tag-scruffy","tag-stretching","tag-summer-3","tag-tail","tag-teenage","tag-wing-stretch","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/black-billed-magpie-young-mia-mcpherson-5264.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-42E","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":97171,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/09\/immature-black-billed-magpie-portrait-at-sunrise\/","url_meta":{"origin":15540,"position":0},"title":"Immature Black-billed Magpie Portrait At Sunrise","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I was looking through my archives yesterday when I came across this immature Black-billed Magpie portrait taken at sunrise 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":"Immature Black-billed Magpie portrait at sunrise, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/black-billed-magpie-immature-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3293.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/black-billed-magpie-immature-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3293.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 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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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-3642.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-3642.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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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":2514,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/06\/13\/black-billed-magpie-juveniles\/","url_meta":{"origin":15540,"position":3},"title":"Black-billed Magpie Juveniles","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Adults have black eyes, the Black-billed Magpie juveniles have blue, gray or even violet eyes.","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":"Portrait of a Black-billed Magpie juvenile. The pinkish gape and violet-blue eyes indicate this is a juvenile. Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-calling-utah-mia-mcpherson-2073.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-calling-utah-mia-mcpherson-2073.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-calling-utah-mia-mcpherson-2073.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"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":15540,"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 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