{"id":2514,"date":"2011-06-13T07:00:41","date_gmt":"2011-06-13T13:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=2514"},"modified":"2026-02-02T09:36:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T15:36:09","slug":"black-billed-magpie-juveniles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/06\/13\/black-billed-magpie-juveniles\/","title":{"rendered":"Black-billed Magpie Juveniles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last week I happened to spot this immature Black-billed Magpie sitting on an ugly man made post. Normally I try to get full body shots but in this case I decided the perch was just too hideous and opted to take portraits of the bird instead.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-145863 size-full\" title=\"Portrait of a Black-billed Magpie juvenile. The pinkish gape and violet-blue eyes indicate this is a juvenile. Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-calling-utah-mia-mcpherson-2073.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-calling-utah-mia-mcpherson-2073.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait of a Black-billed Magpie juvenile. The pinkish gape and violet-blue eyes indicate this is a juvenile. Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah\" width=\"614\" height=\"800\" data-id=\"12153\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27614%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20614%20800%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27614%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-calling-utah-mia-mcpherson-2073-200x261.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-calling-utah-mia-mcpherson-2073-400x521.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-calling-utah-mia-mcpherson-2073-600x782.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-calling-utah-mia-mcpherson-2073.jpg 614w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 614px) 100vw, 614px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Portrait of a Black-billed Magpie juvenile- Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/500, ISO 400, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light <\/span><\/p>\n<p>I didn&#8217;t have time to change my settings as I thought the juvenile would fly off any second so the image above does not have as much depth of field as I would have liked but I still like the great view of the eye and the open bill.<\/p>\n<p>Adults have black eyes, the Black-billed Magpie juveniles have blue, gray or even violet eyes. The young magpies also have shorter tails and seem to lack the wonderful iridescence on the tail, back and wings that the adults have.<\/p>\n<p>The juvenile above was calling for the adult that was nearby to come and feed it. Trust me; these young birds can make a racket! The noise this one made sure made me laugh.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-145862 size-full\" title=\"Black-billed Magpie juvenile in sage on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-perched-mia-mcpherson-9449.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-perched-mia-mcpherson-9449.jpg\" alt=\"Black-billed Magpie juvenile in sage on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah\" width=\"677\" height=\"800\" data-id=\"12154\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27677%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20677%20800%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27677%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-perched-mia-mcpherson-9449-200x236.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-perched-mia-mcpherson-9449-400x473.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-perched-mia-mcpherson-9449-600x709.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-perched-mia-mcpherson-9449.jpg 677w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 677px) 100vw, 677px\" \/><span style=\"color: #888888;\">Black-billed Magpie juvenile on sage &#8211; Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Last year I watched a Black-billed Magpie nest for weeks, as the adults built the nest and as they incubated the eggs from a respectful distance and inside a mobile blind. I missed the young birds coming out into the world for the first time and I missed it again this year. I may need to camp out there for a week to see that happen next year. But at least I have gotten some opportunities to photograph these juvenile Black-billed Magpies this spring. I am very happy about that.<\/p>\n<p>By the time this is posted I will be in Montana savoring the beauty of Red Rock Lakes NWR.<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/black-billed-magpie-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Black-billed Magpie photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ethics on photographing nesting birds:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do not approach too closely<\/li>\n<li>If the birds show any sign of distress, back away<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t trim leaves, twigs or branches to get a clearer shot, you may inadvertently attract predators or cause the eggs\/chicks to over heat<\/li>\n<li>Follow local, state and federal guidelines concerning nesting birds<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t harass the birds to get an action shot<\/li>\n<li>Don\u2019t stay a long time with nesting birds or chicks, that disrupts their normal behavior<\/li>\n<li>Always remember that your scent may draw predators to the area of nesting birds or birds with chicks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For more information on the ethics of photographing nesting birds or chicks please have a look at the <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aba.org\/about\/ethics.html\" target=\" new\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Principles of Birding Ethics<\/a><\/span> published by the American Birding Association.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Adults have black eyes, the Black-billed Magpie juveniles have blue, gray or even violet eyes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":145863,"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":[511,245,1022,26],"tags":[740,1813,4072,4142,4067,56,6005,4842,4104,4167,4046,4057,4193],"class_list":["post-2514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-black-billed-magpies","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","tag-begging","tag-black-billed-magpie","tag-calling","tag-close-up","tag-immature","tag-juveniles-2","tag-magpie","tag-magpies","tag-perched","tag-pica-hudsonia","tag-portrait","tag-sagebrush","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-calling-utah-mia-mcpherson-2073.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-Ey","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":104194,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/13\/young-black-billed-magpie-in-a-serviceberry\/","url_meta":{"origin":2514,"position":0},"title":"Young Black-billed Magpie In A Serviceberry","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Last Friday I found this Black-billed Magpie perched in a serviceberry shrub high in the mountains and stopped to take photos of the young bird.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Calling young Black-billed Magpie in a serviceberry shrub, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/black-billed-magpie-immature-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-4339.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/black-billed-magpie-immature-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-4339.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/black-billed-magpie-immature-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-4339.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/black-billed-magpie-immature-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-4339.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":97171,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/11\/09\/immature-black-billed-magpie-portrait-at-sunrise\/","url_meta":{"origin":2514,"position":1},"title":"Immature Black-billed Magpie Portrait At Sunrise","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I was looking through my archives yesterday when I came across this immature Black-billed Magpie portrait taken at sunrise on Antelope Island State Park.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Black-billed Magpie portrait at sunrise, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/black-billed-magpie-immature-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3293.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/black-billed-magpie-immature-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3293.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/black-billed-magpie-immature-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3293.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/black-billed-magpie-immature-portrait-mia-mcpherson-3293.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":47820,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/07\/28\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-perched-on-a-sign-on-antelope-island\/","url_meta":{"origin":2514,"position":2},"title":"Black-billed Magpie Juvenile Perched On A Sign on Antelope Island","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"There was a tribe of juvenile Black-billed Magpies on Antelope Island State Park yesterday down near White Rock Bay that were wandering around in the area near the Buffalo Point trailhead","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","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 juvenile perched on an informational sign, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-sign-mia-mcpherson-8735.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-juvenile-sign-mia-mcpherson-8735.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-sign-mia-mcpherson-8735.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-sign-mia-mcpherson-8735.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":59404,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/08\/09\/immature-black-billed-magpies-flocking-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":2514,"position":3},"title":"Immature Black-billed Magpies Flocking In The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I was delighted to photograph the few immature Black-billed Magpies that were close to me and to observe those who were further away foraging and chasing each other around in a field dotted with wildflowers, grasses and sage.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Black-billed Magpie with an eye on the sky, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-immature-close-up-mia-mcpherson-8034.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-immature-close-up-mia-mcpherson-8034.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-immature-close-up-mia-mcpherson-8034.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-immature-close-up-mia-mcpherson-8034.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":72014,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/07\/18\/black-billed-magpie-fledgling-perched-in-a-serviceberry\/","url_meta":{"origin":2514,"position":4},"title":"Black-billed Magpie Fledgling Perched In A Serviceberry","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 18, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I liked this image of one of the fledgling Black-billed Magpies I photographed because of the serviceberry perch, the great eye contact I had with the young bird and its pose.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fledgling Black-billed Magpie perched in a Utah Serviceberry, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-fledgling-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-4688.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-fledgling-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-4688.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-fledgling-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-4688.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-fledgling-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-4688.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4588,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/04\/black-billed-magpies-it-is-nesting-time\/","url_meta":{"origin":2514,"position":5},"title":"Black-billed Magpies ~ It Is Nesting Time!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the third consecutive year that I have photographed Black-billed Magpies working on their nest in this same location on Antelope Island.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","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 leaving the nest on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/black-billed-magpie-flight-mia-mcpherson-new-5975.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/black-billed-magpie-flight-mia-mcpherson-new-5975.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/black-billed-magpie-flight-mia-mcpherson-new-5975.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/black-billed-magpie-flight-mia-mcpherson-new-5975.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\/2514","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=2514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}