{"id":25298,"date":"2015-06-07T05:18:25","date_gmt":"2015-06-07T11:18:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=25298"},"modified":"2025-05-20T13:07:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T18:07:16","slug":"female-yellow-headed-blackbirds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/06\/07\/female-yellow-headed-blackbirds\/","title":{"rendered":"Female Yellow-headed Blackbirds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FemaleFemale Yellow-headed Blackbird with food for her chicks – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/640, ISO 250, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Female Yellow-headed Blackbirds are often overlooked by casual viewers and bird photographers because they aren’t as flashy as the males. But that isn’t a bad thing. Their drabber coloration makes them less conspicuous and draws less attention than the males which in turn is helpful when nesting, brooding, and rearing her young.<\/p>\n

This female was taking prey to her young when I photographed her in June of 2009 at Farmington Bay WMA<\/span><\/a> which was before I had moved to Utah and was only here on a short visit.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleA female Yellow-headed Blackbird looking for prey – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

But as a bird photographer I realize I should photograph them more often than I do because they are quite lovely even if their colors are subdued compared to the males. The female above was photographed in May of this year at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Female Yellow-headed Blackbirds are often overlooked by casual viewers and bird photographers because they aren’t as flashy as the males.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":145633,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[124,27,1148,1022,697,26,427],"tags":[4004,3813,3483,4070,4094,4106,4095,6107,4178,1386],"class_list":["post-25298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","category-yellow-headed-blackbird","tag-adult","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-female","tag-marsh","tag-prey","tag-wetlands","tag-willow","tag-xanthocephalus-xanthocephalus","tag-yellow-headed-blackbird"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-0874.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-6A2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4696,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/30\/yellow-headed-blackbirds-friday-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":25298,"position":0},"title":"Yellow-headed Blackbirds – Friday Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Yellow-headed Blackbirds have begun to show up in large numbers in my area of the country. I'm seeing them perched on cattails, phragmites and in flight.","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":"Yellow-headed Blackbird male displaying, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-1642.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-1642.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-1642.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-black-bird-female-mia-mcpherson-1717.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-black-bird-female-mia-mcpherson-1717.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-black-bird-female-mia-mcpherson-1717.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-black-bird-female-mia-mcpherson-1717.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57874,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/05\/16\/female-yellow-headed-blackbird-foraging-on-the-ground-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":25298,"position":2},"title":"Female Yellow-headed Blackbird Foraging On The Ground At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The fore and background of this image may be messy or cluttered looking but I love the way this photo shows the female Yellow-headed Blackbird in the habitat I find them in at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","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":"Female Yellow-headed Blackbird foraging on the ground, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, 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At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a wonderful and relaxing morning at Bear River MBR yesterday and took photos of a female Yellow-headed Blackbird singing on the marsh not long after sunrise.","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":"Singing female Yellow-headed Blackbird, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-adult-female-spring-mia-mcpherson-4808.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-adult-female-spring-mia-mcpherson-4808.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-adult-female-spring-mia-mcpherson-4808.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-adult-female-spring-mia-mcpherson-4808.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4849,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/20\/yellow-headed-blackbird-and-a-midge\/","url_meta":{"origin":25298,"position":4},"title":"Yellow-headed Blackbird and a Midge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) can perch on cattails, reeds, rushes or mounds of vegetation and snatch Midges right out of the air.","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":"Yellow-headed Blackbird male about to grab a midge from the air, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-mia-mcpherson-4765.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-mia-mcpherson-4765.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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