{"id":21848,"date":"2015-04-13T05:35:33","date_gmt":"2015-04-13T11:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=21848"},"modified":"2026-04-01T15:51:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T20:51:59","slug":"brewers-blackbird-a-common-bird-in-steep-decline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/04\/13\/brewers-blackbird-a-common-bird-in-steep-decline\/","title":{"rendered":"Brewer’s Blackbird – A Common Bird in Steep Decline"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Brewer'sBrewer’s Blackbird male displaying – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I was able to photograph a few Brewer’s Blackbirds yesterday morning on Antelope Island and this male displaying was one of them. Brewer’s Blackbirds are year round residents here and they are now getting ready to breed.<\/p>\n

The 2014 State of the Birds Report<\/a><\/span> lists Brewer’s Blackbird as a Common Bird in Steep Decline. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology<\/span><\/a> states:<\/p>\n

Although they are common within their range, Brewer’s Blackbirds populations declined by over 2 percent per year between 1966 and 2010 (amounting to a cumulative decline of 61 percent), according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey.<\/em><\/p>\n

Blackbirds are trapped, shot and poisoned near agricultural areas because they sometimes eat the crops but they are far more beneficial because they also eat insect pests. Brewer’s Blackbirds are a target species of the \u201cBye bye Blackbird\u201d USDA Wildlife Services Program, a program that uses DRC-1339, an avicide. DRC-1339 causes severe renal failure and congestion to the bird\u2019s major organs and does affect non-target species of birds as well.<\/p>\n

I have written more about the Bye bye Blackbird program in this post: Bye bye Blackbirds?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

I wish I had better news about this bird species and the others that are in decline. Dismantling the USDA Wildlife Services Bye bye Blackbird Program would be a start in this species recovery since they kill over 4 million “blackbirds” a year.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

PS: Brewer’s Blackbirds are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act but apparently Wildlife Services can kill any thing they want to.<\/p>\n

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

Brewer’s Blackbirds are a target species of the \u201cBye bye Blackbird\u201d USDA Wildlife Services Program, a program that uses DRC-1339, an avicide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21847,"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":[511,27,420,1022,26],"tags":[4004,3813,3483,4338,2158,779,424,4263,4060,4062,4925,4924],"class_list":["post-21848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-brewers-blackbirds","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-brewers-blackbird","tag-courtship-display","tag-displaying","tag-drc-1339","tag-euphagus-cyanocephalus","tag-icterids","tag-male","tag-steep-decline","tag-usda-wildlife-services"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/brewers-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherson-4953.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-5Go","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1800,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/01\/30\/bye-bye-blackbirds\/","url_meta":{"origin":21848,"position":0},"title":"Bye Bye Blackbirds? The USDA Is Killing Birds With DRC-1339","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently the USDA accepted responsibility for a smaller die off in South Dakota which brought to light a little known program called \"Bye bye Blackbird\" which uses DRC-1339, a poison that is also called an avicide.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Brewer's Blackbird displaying","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/brewers-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherson-3418.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/brewers-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherson-3418.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/brewers-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherson-3418.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/brewers-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherson-3418.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4986,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/05\/13\/brewers-blackbirds-displaying-and-nesting\/","url_meta":{"origin":21848,"position":1},"title":"Brewer’s Blackbirds Displaying and Nesting","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 13, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"While out on Antelope Island State Park on Friday I spotted a male Brewer's Blackbird on top of a bush, the light was just great for viewing and photographing the iridescent teals, blues, greens and purples that can show up on these \"black\" birds.","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":"Male Brewer's Blackbird displaying for nearby female","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/brewers-black-bird-male-mia-mcpherson-3877.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/brewers-black-bird-male-mia-mcpherson-3877.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/brewers-black-bird-male-mia-mcpherson-3877.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/brewers-black-bird-male-mia-mcpherson-3877.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":111281,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/17\/male-brewers-blackbird-portraits\/","url_meta":{"origin":21848,"position":2},"title":"Male Brewer’s Blackbird Portraits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I took these two male Brewer's Blackbird portraits yesterday at my local pond. In one the blackbird was displaying, in the other he just looked funny to me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Brewer's Blackbird displaying portrait, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/brewers-blackbird-male-close-up-mia-mcpherson-5771.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/brewers-blackbird-male-close-up-mia-mcpherson-5771.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/brewers-blackbird-male-close-up-mia-mcpherson-5771.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/brewers-blackbird-male-close-up-mia-mcpherson-5771.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14969,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/05\/15\/brewers-blackbird-male-displaying\/","url_meta":{"origin":21848,"position":3},"title":"Brewer’s Blackbird male displaying","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A simple post this morning of a Brewer's Blackbird male displaying that I photographed on a bright day in May out 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":"Brewer's Blackbird male displaying","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/brewers-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherson-0048.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/brewers-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherson-0048.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/brewers-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherson-0048.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":111435,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/21\/late-winter-female-brewers-blackbird\/","url_meta":{"origin":21848,"position":4},"title":"Late Winter Female Brewer’s Blackbird","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 21, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"When I photographed this Female Brewer's Blackbird a few days ago she was the focus of attention for four nearby males that were displaying on the frosty grass.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Brewer's Blackbird on frosty grass, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/brewers-blackbird-adult-female-mia-mcpherson-5880.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/brewers-blackbird-adult-female-mia-mcpherson-5880.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/brewers-blackbird-adult-female-mia-mcpherson-5880.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/brewers-blackbird-adult-female-mia-mcpherson-5880.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6386,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/10\/18\/one-year-ago-today-brewers-blackbird\/","url_meta":{"origin":21848,"position":5},"title":"One year ago today – Brewer’s Blackbird","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 18, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"One year ago today it was slow on Antelope Island, not many birds were close enough to photograph but on the way home I spotted this female Brewer's Blackbird on some rocks near one of the bridges on the causeway to the island.","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":"Brewer's Blackbird female taking a 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