{"id":2055,"date":"2011-03-09T04:20:39","date_gmt":"2011-03-09T11:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=2055"},"modified":"2025-08-07T10:47:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T15:47:26","slug":"black-billed-magpie-building-a-nest-after-a-snow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/03\/09\/black-billed-magpie-building-a-nest-after-a-snow\/","title":{"rendered":"Black-billed Magpie Building A Nest After A Snow"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Black-billedBlack-billed Magpie building a nest after a snow- Nikon D200, f7.1, 1\/2000, +0.3 EV, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I have spent hours photographing Black-billed Magpies on many days and it has always been fun but challenging. Black-billed Magpies are difficult to expose correctly because of the high contrasts of the blacks and whites.<\/p>\n

The magpies have begun to build their nests again this year and\u00a0yesterday I felt that I had a real treat being able to photograph this Black-billed Magpie building a nest after a snow. I hadn’t had that opportunity before. It was even more of a challenge because of the pure white snow.<\/p>\n

The magpies didn’t start nest building first thing in the morning, my thoughts on that are they waited until the sun began to melt the snow which made it easier for them to find the twigs and small branches under the snow and because the ground defrosted so they could get the mud they use in the nest construction.<\/p>\n

I missed the chicks fledging last year because I was on a trip to southern Utah, I hope I can get some shots of the chicks of this pair venturing out into the world for the first time this year.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

More nesting Black-billed Magpies<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I felt that I had a real treat being able to photograph this Black-billed Magpie building a nest after a snow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":151894,"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":[1813,3981,6005,4842,2213,4075,780,3976,4450,4998,4167,4050,9048],"class_list":["post-2055","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-davis-county","tag-magpie","tag-magpies","tag-mud","tag-nest","tag-nest-building","tag-nesting","tag-nesting-season","tag-nests","tag-pica-hudsonia","tag-snow","tag-twigs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-billed-magpie-nest-building-mia-mcpherson-8186.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-x9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":121645,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/02\/20\/black-billed-magpie-with-nesting-materials\/","url_meta":{"origin":2055,"position":0},"title":"Black-billed Magpie With Nesting Materials","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"It was my first full spring in Utah, nearly 14 years ago, when my keen eyes were used to find my first Black-billed Magpie nest 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":"Black-billed Magpie in flight with nesting material for its nest, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, 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":7761,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/03\/05\/nesting-time-for-black-billed-magpies\/","url_meta":{"origin":2055,"position":1},"title":"Nesting time for Black-billed Magpies","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"There was a sharp, cold wind blowing from the north yesterday and before I was finished photographing these Black-billed Magpies my hands had gone numb.","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":"Black-billed Magpie lifting off from a bush with a twig, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/black-billed-magpie-nesting-mia-mcpherson-9082.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/black-billed-magpie-nesting-mia-mcpherson-9082.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Black-billed Magpie landing with nesting material, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-billed-magpie-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-2604.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-billed-magpie-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-2604.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-billed-magpie-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-2604.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-billed-magpie-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-2604.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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2010","format":false,"excerpt":"If I had not been paying attention to the first magpie's activity and behavior I would have missed the opportunity to photograph these birds and their nesting habits over the next several weeks.","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":"Black-billed Magpie landing with nesting material. 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