{"id":42961,"date":"2016-11-03T05:44:50","date_gmt":"2016-11-03T11:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=42961"},"modified":"2025-10-30T14:57:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T19:57:22","slug":"red-winged-blackbird-perched-in-rabbitbrush-fluff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/11\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-perched-in-rabbitbrush-fluff\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-winged Blackbird Perched In Rabbitbrush Fluff"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-162353 size-full\" title=\"Red-winged Blackbird male perched in rabbitbrush, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-9869.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-9869.jpg\" alt=\"Red-winged Blackbird male perched in rabbitbrush, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-9869-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-9869-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-9869-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-9869-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-9869-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-9869.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Red-winged Blackbird male perched in rabbitbrush &#8211; Nikon D500, f8, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It was clear yesterday morning and I just had to get out into the field after being cooped up for nearly a week and <a href=\"https:\/\/stateparks.utah.gov\/parks\/antelope-island\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Antelope Island<\/span><\/a> was beckoning.<\/p>\n<p>There was a cluster of Red-winged Blackbirds on the north tip of the island who actually hung around for a bit allowing me to take photos of them in the golden light that occurs just after the sun rises.<\/p>\n<p>Several of the blackbirds were feeding on the fluffy rabbitbrush seeds next to a parking area including this male Red-winged Blackbird.<\/p>\n<p>Just a few weeks ago all of the rabbitbrush on the island was covered in bright yellow flowers and now it has all gone to seed.<\/p>\n<p>It felt good to get out for a while yesterday and leave my worries behind just for a bit.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/red-winged-blackbird-images\/\">here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Red-winged Blackbird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Several of the Red-winged Blackbirds were feeding on the fluffy rabbitbrush seeds next to a parking area including this male. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162353,"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":[511,27,1022,419,26],"tags":[4004,4151,970,3813,3483,11978,4620,5504,4062,4104,4289,4324],"class_list":["post-42961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-red-winged-blackbirds","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-agelaius-phoeniceus","tag-autumn","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-desert-island","tag-fall","tag-fluff","tag-male","tag-perched","tag-rabbitbrush","tag-red-winged-blackbird"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-9869.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-baV","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49384,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/11\/11\/female-red-winged-blackbird-eating-wild-sunflower-seeds-in-autumn\/","url_meta":{"origin":42961,"position":0},"title":"Female Red-winged Blackbird Eating Wild Sunflower Seeds In Autumn","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 11, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Many species of birds on Antelope Island State Park are pigging out on wild sunflower seeds at this time of the year including Red-winged Blackbirds.","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":"Female Red-winged Blackbird eating wild sunflower seeds, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-female-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-6333.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-female-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-6333.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-female-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-6333.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-female-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-6333.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49032,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/19\/juvenile-red-winged-blackbird-male-diving-towards-the-ground\/","url_meta":{"origin":42961,"position":1},"title":"Immature Red-winged Blackbird Male Diving Towards The Ground","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The plumage of male juvenile Red-winged Blackbirds is highly variable during their first year, some of the young blackbirds can look like females and some can look more like adult males.","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 male Red-winged Blackbird diving towards the ground, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9524.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9524.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9524.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9524.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34942,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/20\/a-female-red-winged-blackbird-at-white-rock-bay\/","url_meta":{"origin":42961,"position":2},"title":"Female Red-winged Blackbird at White Rock Bay","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I was delighted to photograph a female Red-winged Blackbird at White Rock Bay as she perched a dead greasewood branch.","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":"Female Red-winged Blackbird at White Rock Bay on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-5403.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-5403.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-5403.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-5403.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":141525,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/12\/male-red-winged-blackbird-on-corn-stalks\/","url_meta":{"origin":42961,"position":3},"title":"Male Red-winged Blackbird On Corn Stalks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"On my most recent trip to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I photographed an immature male Red-winged Blackbird perched on a corn stalk in a field.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young male Red-winged Blackbird at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-end-winter-mia-mcpherson-7443.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-end-winter-mia-mcpherson-7443.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-end-winter-mia-mcpherson-7443.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-end-winter-mia-mcpherson-7443.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51046,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/02\/23\/spread-eagle-red-winged-blackbird-at-fort-de-soto-county-park\/","url_meta":{"origin":42961,"position":4},"title":"Spread-eagle Red-winged Blackbird at Fort De Soto County Park","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In Florida I most often photographed Red-winged Blackbirds at north beach of Fort De Soto County Park where I could reliably find them in the sand dunes, sea oats, spartina and mangroves all year long.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spread-eagle Red-winged Blackbird male, Fort De Soto County Park, Pinellas County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-mangrove-mia-mcpherson-0508.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-mangrove-mia-mcpherson-0508.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-mangrove-mia-mcpherson-0508.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":19932,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/02\/11\/a-lark-blackbird-and-and-old-coyote\/","url_meta":{"origin":42961,"position":5},"title":"Lark, Blackbird And An Old Coyote","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday the sun was shining on Antelope Island unlike the stormy day before and there were birds and animals to photograph much to my delight.","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":"Pale male Coyote in marsh grasses, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-old-mia-mcpherson-1174.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-old-mia-mcpherson-1174.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-old-mia-mcpherson-1174.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/coyote-old-mia-mcpherson-1174.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\/42961","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=42961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}