{"id":168844,"date":"2026-02-10T05:50:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T11:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=168844"},"modified":"2026-04-17T08:02:42","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T13:02:42","slug":"thousands-of-blackbirds-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/02\/10\/thousands-of-blackbirds-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands Of Blackbirds At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday I spent some time with thousands, and thousands, of blackbirds on the auto tour route of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fws.gov\/refuge\/sequoyah\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge<\/span><\/a> just as the sun came over the horizon.<\/p>\n<p>Turn your volume up to hear me talking in the video below.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube fusion-aligncenter\" style=\"--awb-max-width:1120px;--awb-max-height:504px;--awb-width:100%;--awb-margin-bottom:24px;\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\"><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT51S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"Blackbirds at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge on 9 February 2026 \" \/><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"The video shows thousands of blackbirds and in the background Snow Geese can be heard in flight. You&#039;ll also hear me talking.\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2026-02-09T17:43:32-06:00\" \/><meta itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/i3.ytimg.com\/vi\/6p9OuDfvlCs\/hqdefault.jpg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"embedUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6p9OuDfvlCs\" \/><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top:45%;\" ><iframe class=\"lazyload\" title=\" Blackbirds at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge on 9 February 2026 \" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271120%27%20height%3D%27504%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%201120%20504%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%271120%27%20height%3D%27504%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6p9OuDfvlCs?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0&amp;rel=0\" width=\"1120\" height=\"504\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/6p9OuDfvlCs\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Play on YouTube<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The blackbirds were busy foraging, flying around, and landing in the road, grasses, and cornfields. I parked my Jeep and used my phone to video them. They seemed to move in unison frequently. The geese calling in the background added to the chorus.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter size-full wp-image-168836\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg\" alt=\"Adult male Red-winged Blackbird glowing in early morning light, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20643%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-5488-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-5488-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-5488-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-5488-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-5488-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Adult male Red-winged Blackbird glowing in early morning light \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/200, ISO 1000, +0.3 EV, Canon RF 100-500mm at 500mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I did take a few still photos of the Red-winged Blackbirds that landed near my vehicle, but those only showed one bird, whereas my videos showed masses of them. These large flocks don&#8217;t happen year round, so I focused mainly on taking videos instead of stills.<\/p>\n<p>The video below only shows a small portion of the blackbirds taken through my windshield. I could see many more.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube fusion-aligncenter\" style=\"--awb-max-width:1120px;--awb-max-height:504px;--awb-width:100%;--awb-margin-bottom:24px;\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\"><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT45S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"name\" content=\"Thousands of blackbirds in front of my vehicle on 9 February 2026\" \/><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"I took this video through my windshield just as the sun was coming up at the refuge.\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2026-02-09T17:37:43-06:00\" \/><meta itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/i3.ytimg.com\/vi\/clQjami5cVE\/hqdefault.jpg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"embedUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/clQjami5cVE\" \/><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><div class=\"fluid-width-video-wrapper\" style=\"padding-top:45%;\" ><iframe class=\"lazyload\" title=\"Thousands of blackbirds in front of my vehicle on 9 February 2026\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271120%27%20height%3D%27504%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%201120%20504%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%271120%27%20height%3D%27504%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/clQjami5cVE?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0&amp;rel=0\" width=\"1120\" height=\"504\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/clQjami5cVE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Play on YouTube<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This video shows the living, moving, breathing mass of blackbirds. Keep viewing until the end. They took my breath away.<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/red-winged-blackbird-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Red-winged Blackbird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday I spent some time with thousands, and thousands, of blackbirds on the auto tour route of Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge just as the sun came over the horizon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":168836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,13973,419,13974,5362],"tags":[4004,4151,3813,3483,13984,4224,6072,4060,4062,14021,4104,4324,14020,4581,373],"class_list":["post-168844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-oklahoma","category-red-winged-blackbirds","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","category-video","tag-adult","tag-agelaius-phoeniceus","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-bottomlands","tag-early-morning","tag-glowing","tag-icterids","tag-male","tag-oklahoma","tag-perched","tag-red-winged-blackbird","tag-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-videos","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-winged-blackbird-male-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-5488.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-HVi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":169430,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/02\/18\/snow-geese-and-red-winged-blackbird-flocks-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":168844,"position":0},"title":"Snow Geese and Red-winged Blackbird Flocks at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 18, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"On my recent trip to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, the subjects I focused on most were Snow Geese and Red-winged Blackbird flocks on the auto tour route.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Flock of Red-winged Blackbirds flying over a large flock of Snow Geese, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/snow-geese-red-winged-blackbird-flocks-mia-mcpherson-8588.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/snow-geese-red-winged-blackbird-flocks-mia-mcpherson-8588.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/snow-geese-red-winged-blackbird-flocks-mia-mcpherson-8588.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/snow-geese-red-winged-blackbird-flocks-mia-mcpherson-8588.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":166404,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/05\/videos-of-winter-blackbirds-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":168844,"position":1},"title":"Videos Of Winter Blackbirds At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 5, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"On the last day of 2025 I visited Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma. I was able to take a video of a large flock of blackbirds lifting off.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Foraging flock of blackbirds at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-winged-blackbird-flock-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3755.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-winged-blackbird-flock-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3755.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-winged-blackbird-flock-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3755.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/red-winged-blackbird-flock-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-3755.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":141525,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/12\/male-red-winged-blackbird-on-corn-stalks\/","url_meta":{"origin":168844,"position":2},"title":"Male Red-winged Blackbird On Corn Stalks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"On my most recent trip to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I photographed an immature male Red-winged Blackbird perched on a corn stalk in a field.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young male Red-winged Blackbird at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-end-winter-mia-mcpherson-7443.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-end-winter-mia-mcpherson-7443.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-end-winter-mia-mcpherson-7443.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-end-winter-mia-mcpherson-7443.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":137887,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/12\/16\/mesmerizing-red-winged-blackbird-murmurations-at-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":168844,"position":3},"title":"Mesmerizing Red-winged Blackbird Murmurations At Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I'm sharing one photo that I took of the Red-winged Blackbird murmurations I saw on my last trip to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Oklahoma&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Oklahoma","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-winged Blackbird murmuration, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/red-winged-blackbird-murmuration-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-7362.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/red-winged-blackbird-murmuration-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-7362.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/red-winged-blackbird-murmuration-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-7362.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/red-winged-blackbird-murmuration-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-7362.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":137487,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/11\/26\/red-winged-blackbird-flock-video-clip-from-sequoyah-nwr\/","url_meta":{"origin":168844,"position":4},"title":"Red-winged Blackbird Flock Video Clip From Sequoyah NWR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I meant to share this Red-winged Blackbird video clip earlier, but I hadn\u2019t gotten around to merging the two videos and processing them until last night.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Davis County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Davis County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/davis-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Red-winged Blackbird displaying on the marsh, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-adult-male-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-3846.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-adult-male-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-3846.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-adult-male-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-3846.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-winged-blackbird-adult-male-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-3846.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":140218,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/02\/18\/two-wintertime-views-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":168844,"position":5},"title":"Two Wintertime Views At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent the morning at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge yesterday, and I have to say, the sunrise was simply glorious. It was pretty cold, too.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Oklahoma&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Oklahoma","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reeve's Slough wintertime view with ducks too, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sequoyah-nwr-winter-scenic-mia-mcpherson-C3235.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sequoyah-nwr-winter-scenic-mia-mcpherson-C3235.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sequoyah-nwr-winter-scenic-mia-mcpherson-C3235.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/sequoyah-nwr-winter-scenic-mia-mcpherson-C3235.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\/168844","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=168844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/168836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}