{"id":16334,"date":"2014-10-31T06:10:36","date_gmt":"2014-10-31T12:10:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=16334"},"modified":"2021-05-10T07:43:35","modified_gmt":"2021-05-10T13:43:35","slug":"preening-brewers-blackbird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/10\/31\/preening-brewers-blackbird\/","title":{"rendered":"Preening Brewer’s Blackbird"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PreeningPreening Brewer’s Blackbird – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I have been seeing plenty of blackbirds lately at Farmington Bay WMA and a few days ago I photographed this preening Brewer’s Blackbird on a fence post. This male appeared less colorful than the other males nearby, in fact he seemed rather drab compared to them. According to Sibley’s Guide to Birds<\/em> drab males are rare and this one sure didn’t look like the normal, glossy males<\/a><\/span> that I am used to seeing. Then again this might be a hatch year male who hasn’t fully developed its adult plumage yet.<\/p>\n

I always scan the flocks of blackbirds hoping to find a Rusty Blackbird because they are uncommon and it would be a lifer for me.<\/p>\n

Yesterday I photographed a male preening in a Russian Olive and I hope to post one of those images soon. I really liked how the elliptical leaves framed him but I didn’t have time to process any of those images last night.<\/p>\n

Brewer’s Blackbirds are common and widespread and can be found any where from parking lots in cities, farm fields and in wide open areas where they feed on seeds and insects. I wouldn’t exactly say their call<\/a><\/span> is lovely, to me it sounds more like a squeaky swing on a child’s playground set.<\/p>\n

Still, I do think these blackbirds are lovely and because they are a challenge to expose correctly I enjoy photographing them every chance I get.<\/p>\n

Life is good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Brewer\u2019s Blackbird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have been seeing plenty of blackbirds lately at Farmington Bay WMA and a few days ago I photographed this preening Brewer’s Blackbird on a fence post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_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":[27,420,1022,697,26],"tags":[4004,970,3813,3483,4338,4923,4263,4620,898,4062,1984,4019,3996,4095,8917],"class_list":["post-16334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-brewers-blackbirds","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-brewers-blackbird","tag-drab","tag-euphagus-cyanocephalus","tag-fall","tag-fence-post","tag-male","tag-pond","tag-preening-2","tag-water","tag-wetlands","tag-wooden-post"],"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