{"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_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":[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":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-mia-mcpherson-5232.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-4fs","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54656,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/10\/18\/autumn-male-brewers-blackbird-shaking-after-preening\/","url_meta":{"origin":16334,"position":0},"title":"Autumn Male Brewer’s Blackbird shaking after preening","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A male Brewer's Blackbird had been preening on a fence post when he started to shake his feathers and that action sure showed his iridescent plumage off nicely.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Brewer's Blackbird shaking after preening, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-shaking-mia-mcpherson-2192.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-shaking-mia-mcpherson-2192.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Short-eared Owl in flight over a marsh, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-flight-mia-mcpherson-3026.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-flight-mia-mcpherson-3026.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-flight-mia-mcpherson-3026.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-flight-mia-mcpherson-3026.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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midge","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-midge-mia-mcpherson-1958.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-midge-mia-mcpherson-1958.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-midge-mia-mcpherson-1958.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-midge-mia-mcpherson-1958.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60787,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/10\/12\/male-brewers-blackbird-close-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":16334,"position":3},"title":"Male Brewer\u2019s Blackbird Close Up","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I was able to take close up images of a male Brewer's Blackbird in the kind of light that showed all of its beautiful iridescent colors with the silky blue water of a pond in the background.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Brewer's Blackbird close up, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brewers-blackbird-close-up-mia-mcpherson-7674.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brewers-blackbird-close-up-mia-mcpherson-7674.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I was able to take this male Brewer's Blackbird portrait as it perched next to the road that shows the iridescent colors in his plumage quite nicely.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Brewer's Blackbird Portrait","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/brewers-blackbird-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-3252.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/brewers-blackbird-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-3252.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/brewers-blackbird-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-3252.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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