{"id":2272,"date":"2011-05-01T17:16:12","date_gmt":"2011-05-01T23:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=2272"},"modified":"2025-11-07T10:49:33","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T16:49:33","slug":"western-kingbirds-my-foy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/05\/01\/western-kingbirds-my-foy\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Kingbirds – My FOY"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WesternPerched Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis) –\u00a0<\/span> Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00a0get easily excited about seeing and photographing birds and I get even more delighted when I get to see a first of the year (FOY) bird like the Western Kingbird above.<\/p>\n

I spotted two Western Kingbirds<\/span><\/a> today perched on dried vegetation. While I observed them one of the kingbirds was actively hawking insects, swooping towards a bug then perching until it saw the next insect.<\/p>\n

I love the colors of these birds, the soft muted grays and yellows is very appealing to me.\u00a0 I am looking forward to photographing them while they are here and listening to their chattering calls.<\/p>\n

Shouldn’t be too long before I start seeing Eastern Kingbirds too!<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

While I observed them one of the Western Kingbirds was actively hawking insects, swooping towards a bug then perching until it saw the next insect. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":163061,"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":[1022,697,26,534],"tags":[4004,4021,6577,788,3808,4884,3791,3772,4104,4183,4411],"class_list":["post-2272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","category-western-kingbirds","tag-adult","tag-bird-photography","tag-branches","tag-first-of-year","tag-flycatcher","tag-flycatchers","tag-kingbird","tag-kingbirds","tag-perched","tag-tyrannus-verticalis","tag-western-kingbird"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-king-bird-perched-utah-mia-mcpherson-2353.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-AE","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":113327,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/08\/my-first-of-year-western-kingbird-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":2272,"position":0},"title":"My First Of Year Western Kingbird Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"On my last trip to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I was tickled to take my first of year Western Kingbird photos when I was heading back to the interstate.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"First of year Western Kingbird on a barb wire fence, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-kingbird-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2541.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-kingbird-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2541.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-kingbird-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2541.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-kingbird-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2541.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36910,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/03\/09\/western-and-eastern-kingbird-juveniles\/","url_meta":{"origin":2272,"position":1},"title":"Western and Eastern Kingbird Juveniles","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I feel fortunate that I am able to see and photograph both the Western and Eastern Kingbird juveniles here in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Eastern Kingbird perched on a fence post at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/eastern-kingbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2786.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/eastern-kingbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2786.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/eastern-kingbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2786.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/eastern-kingbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2786.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9096,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/05\/western-kingbird-juvenile\/","url_meta":{"origin":2272,"position":2},"title":"Western Kingbird Juvenile","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't often have the opportunity to photograph juvenile Western Kingbirds but last week I did at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Box Elder County.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Western Kingbird juvenile on a barbed wire perch, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-young-mia-mcpherson-0064.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-young-mia-mcpherson-0064.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-young-mia-mcpherson-0064.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-young-mia-mcpherson-0064.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47498,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/06\/30\/juvenile-eastern-and-western-kingbirds\/","url_meta":{"origin":2272,"position":3},"title":"Juvenile Eastern and Western Kingbirds – Their Ranges Overlap Here in Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The ranges for these two species of kingbirds overlap here in northern Utah but I see more of the Western Kingbirds than I do the Eastern Kingbirds.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Western Kingbird perched on an old fence post, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/western-kingbird-juvenile-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-0593.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/western-kingbird-juvenile-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-0593.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/western-kingbird-juvenile-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-0593.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/western-kingbird-juvenile-fence-post-mia-mcpherson-0593.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":37497,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/03\/27\/adult-western-kingbird-close-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":2272,"position":4},"title":"Adult Western Kingbird Close Up","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This adult Western Kingbird close up was photographed two years ago on Antelope Island State Park as it perched on a sign post close to a nest site.","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":"Adult Western Kingbird, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-mia-mcpherson-2903.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-mia-mcpherson-2903.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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