{"id":44929,"date":"2017-02-12T05:56:02","date_gmt":"2017-02-12T12:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=44929"},"modified":"2026-04-13T10:19:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T15:19:00","slug":"fluffed-up-male-brewers-blackbird-at-farmington-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/02\/12\/fluffed-up-male-brewers-blackbird-at-farmington-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Fluffed up Male Brewer&#8217;s Blackbird at Farmington Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-44926 size-full\" title=\"Fluffed up male Brewer's Blackbird\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/brewers-blackbird-male-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-3277.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/brewers-blackbird-male-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-3277.jpg\" alt=\"Fluffed up male Brewer's Blackbird\" 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\/2017\/02\/brewers-blackbird-male-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-3277-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/brewers-blackbird-male-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-3277-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/brewers-blackbird-male-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-3277-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/brewers-blackbird-male-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-3277-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/brewers-blackbird-male-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-3277-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/brewers-blackbird-male-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-3277-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/brewers-blackbird-male-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-3277-800x571.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/brewers-blackbird-male-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-3277.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Fluffed up male Brewer&#8217;s Blackbird &#8211; Nikon D810, f10, 1\/800, ISO 320, -1.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Last night I spent some time looking through images I had taken last February to make mental notes of what I had seen then to figure out what I might see this month in the various locations I go to find and photograph birds. I came across several images of this male Brewer&#8217;s Blackbird I had photographed last February and I realized I haven&#8217;t seen them since last fall. Brewer&#8217;s Blackbirds are year round residents in Utah but I just don&#8217;t see much of them in the winter.<\/p>\n<p>This Brewer&#8217;s Blackbird male was with several other males on some weathered wooden pallets next to the road when he shook and fluffed up his feathers. I like that I can see the blue, green and purple iridescence in his dark plumage, they are much more than just &#8220;plain black birds&#8221; when you look close enough. The setting might not be very natural looking because of the slats of the pallet but I am okay with it, the blackbird certainly was.<\/p>\n<p>I was only able to take a few images of the Brewer&#8217;s Blackbirds that day because a nearby Prairie Falcon spooked them and they took off.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_44931\" style=\"width: 460px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-44931\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-44931 size-full\" title=\"Predicted weather 12 through 19 February 2017\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/weather-week-february.png\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/weather-week-february.png\" alt=\"Predicted weather 12 through 19 February 2017\" width=\"450\" height=\"253\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27450%27%20height%3D%27253%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20450%20253%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27450%27%20height%3D%27253%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/weather-week-february-200x112.png 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/weather-week-february-250x141.png 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/weather-week-february-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/weather-week-february-400x225.png 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/weather-week-february.png 450w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-44931\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Predicted weather 12 through 19 February 2017<\/p><\/div>\n<p>It looks like there might be some sunshine the next few days, it has been a long, long time since I have seen this much sunshine in a weather forecast! I am excited about it and hope that I can find some birds to photograph while the weather conditions are favorable and the chance for good light is better than it has been for the last few weeks (months actually).<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/brewers-blackbird-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Brewer\u2019s Blackbird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This Brewer&#8217;s Blackbird male was with several other males on some weathered wooden pallets next to the road when he shook and fluffed up his feathers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44926,"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":[27,420,1022,697,26],"tags":[4004,3483,4338,4263,11563,4309,4060,4062,5656],"class_list":["post-44929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-brewers-blackbirds","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-blackbirds","tag-brewers-blackbird","tag-euphagus-cyanocephalus","tag-farmlands","tag-fluffed-up","tag-icterids","tag-male","tag-wooden-pallet"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/brewers-blackbird-male-fluffy-mia-mcpherson-3277.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-bGF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":60787,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/10\/12\/male-brewers-blackbird-close-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":44929,"position":0},"title":"Male Brewer\u2019s Blackbird Close Up","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I was able to take close up images of a male Brewer's Blackbird in the kind of light that showed all of its beautiful iridescent colors with the silky blue water of a pond in the background.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Brewer's Blackbird close up, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brewers-blackbird-close-up-mia-mcpherson-7674.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brewers-blackbird-close-up-mia-mcpherson-7674.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brewers-blackbird-close-up-mia-mcpherson-7674.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brewers-blackbird-close-up-mia-mcpherson-7674.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42798,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/10\/23\/male-brewers-blackbird-on-an-autumn-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":44929,"position":1},"title":"Male Brewer&#8217;s Blackbird on an Autumn Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Brewer's Blackbirds are year round residents in northern Utah and in the autumn they form large flocks that move through open field looking for seeds and fallen grain.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Brewer's Blackbird calling from a fence post","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/brewers-blackbird-calling-mia-mcpherson-8782.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/brewers-blackbird-calling-mia-mcpherson-8782.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/brewers-blackbird-calling-mia-mcpherson-8782.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/brewers-blackbird-calling-mia-mcpherson-8782.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54584,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/10\/13\/male-brewers-blackbird-bathing-and-splashing-water\/","url_meta":{"origin":44929,"position":2},"title":"Male Brewer&#8217;s Blackbird Bathing and Splashing Water","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Brewer's Blackbird seemed to be really throwing himself into his bath as he splashed around, dipping his head into the water then shaking his entire body as his head rose above the water.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Brewer's Blackbird male bathing, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-bathing-mia-mcpherson-0139.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-bathing-mia-mcpherson-0139.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-bathing-mia-mcpherson-0139.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-bathing-mia-mcpherson-0139.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49111,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/23\/autumn-brewers-blackbirds\/","url_meta":{"origin":44929,"position":3},"title":"Autumn Brewer&#8217;s Blackbirds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I always have fun photographing Brewer's Blackbirds even though they are a challenge to expose properly, it is precisely that challenge that keeps me on my toes.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Brewer's Blackbird catching a midge","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-midge-mia-mcpherson-1958.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-midge-mia-mcpherson-1958.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-midge-mia-mcpherson-1958.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/brewers-blackbird-male-midge-mia-mcpherson-1958.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35855,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/02\/20\/male-brewers-blackbird-portrait\/","url_meta":{"origin":44929,"position":4},"title":"Male Brewer&#8217;s Blackbird Portrait","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I was able to take this male Brewer's Blackbird portrait as it perched next to the road that shows the iridescent colors in his plumage quite nicely.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Brewer's Blackbird Portrait","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/brewers-blackbird-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-3252.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/brewers-blackbird-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-3252.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/brewers-blackbird-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-3252.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/brewers-blackbird-adult-male-mia-mcpherson-3252.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54829,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/01\/male-brewers-blackbird-on-a-fence-post-with-fall-colors\/","url_meta":{"origin":44929,"position":5},"title":"Male Brewer&#8217;s Blackbird On A Fence Post With Fall Colors","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Two days ago I had a male Brewer's Blackbird in my viewfinder near Glover Pond in Davis County, I photographed him as he perched on a fence post with fall colors in the background.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Brewer's Blackbird checking out a fence post, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/brewers-blackbird-male-fence-post-fall-mia-mcpherson-4378.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/brewers-blackbird-male-fence-post-fall-mia-mcpherson-4378.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/brewers-blackbird-male-fence-post-fall-mia-mcpherson-4378.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/brewers-blackbird-male-fence-post-fall-mia-mcpherson-4378.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\/44929","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=44929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}