{"id":37842,"date":"2016-04-03T05:25:30","date_gmt":"2016-04-03T11:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=37842"},"modified":"2025-05-20T13:09:53","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T18:09:53","slug":"male-yellow-headed-blackbird-portrait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/04\/03\/male-yellow-headed-blackbird-portrait\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Yellow-headed Blackbird Portrait"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale Yellow-headed Blackbird Portrait – Nikon D810, f9, 1\/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning I went to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> because the sun was shining, the air was clear and I was itching to see it again. On my drive to the auto tour loop I was amazed to see well over a hundred Long-billed Curlews near the Bear River in the fields on both side of the river. I have never seen so many curlews congregated in one area in my life! They were east of the hard top road and the light was bad on them so I didn’t take any photos. I should have gone back in the afternoon to see if they were still there.<\/p>\n

Then, I didn’t see them but I could hear the calls of Franklin’s Gulls, it is nice to know they have returned. They remind me of the Laughing Gulls I photographed and was so fond of in Florida. Their calls are different and I love to hear that sound.<\/p>\n

On the south side of the auto tour loop there were plenty of Red-winged and Yellow-head Blackbirds feeding right next to the road on the ground and perched on top of the rushes snatching midges right out of the air. I was able to take this male Yellow-headed Blackbird portrait because the bird seemed more intent on catching midges than being nervous about me. I really, really wish that it hadn’t had out of focus phragmites in front of the blackbird but what I really liked about this image was that I’d never been so close to a Yellow-headed Blackbird that I could see five tiny yellow feathers in the orbital (eye) ring of this species before.<\/p>\n

Did I mention I really wish the phragmites weren’t in front of the bird? Oh well, stuff happens.<\/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":"

I was able to take this male Yellow-headed Blackbird portrait because the bird seemed more intent on catching midges than being nervous about me. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":145641,"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":[124,27,1148,26,427],"tags":[4004,3813,3483,4142,5025,4062,4094,5026,4046,4178,1386],"class_list":["post-37842","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-utah","category-yellow-headed-blackbird","tag-adult","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-close-up","tag-feathers","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-orbital-ring","tag-portrait","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-male-portrait-mia-mcpherson-1602.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-9Qm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4849,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/20\/yellow-headed-blackbird-and-a-midge\/","url_meta":{"origin":37842,"position":0},"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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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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2021","format":false,"excerpt":"On Monday while at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge one of the first birds I photographed was a male Yellow-headed Blackbird resting on a rock.","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":"Male Yellow-headed Blackbird resting on a rock, 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-male-rock-mia-mcpherson-5301.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-male-rock-mia-mcpherson-5301.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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