{"id":4588,"date":"2012-03-04T14:29:35","date_gmt":"2012-03-04T21:29:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=4588"},"modified":"2025-04-02T10:00:42","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T15:00:42","slug":"black-billed-magpies-it-is-nesting-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/04\/black-billed-magpies-it-is-nesting-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Black-billed Magpies ~ It Is Nesting Time!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Black-billedBlack-billed Magpie flying towards the nest – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/2500, ISO 640, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 264mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the third consecutive year that I have photographed Black-billed Magpies working on their nest in this same location on Antelope Island<\/span><\/a>. I’m really glad I spotted that first bird disappear into the Greasewood one morning with something in its bill. It made me curious enough to want to stop and see what was going on and I have been well rewarded for that curiosity.<\/p>\n

Black-billed Magpies are not easy birds to expose correctly because of the combination of bright white and black plumage. The blacks can block up easily if the exposure compensation is not set right and if you raise the exposure compensation too high the whites can be blown out. I find that if I expose a bit bright in the camera then bring the whites and lights down in post processing it works well otherwise if I lighten the blacks too much in editing I can bring in unwanted noise.<\/p>\n

\"Black-billed\u00a0Black-billed Magpie leaving the nest – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/3200, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 272mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

With the right light angle the purple, blue, teal and green iridescence can be seen and photographed. These are not just plain old black and white birds. With the nest being at a certain location I can prefocus on the area where I think the birds might fly in and I find I get sharper shots that way.<\/p>\n

Right now the magpies are bringing in sticks and twigs to fortify the old nest and later on they will bring in mud or Bison manure to line the bottom of the nest along with soft grasses.<\/p>\n

\"Black-billedBlack-billed Magpie in the snow – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/400, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 272mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Two days ago when I photographed this Black-billed Magpie there was snow on the ground but\u00a0the bird\u00a0was still finding small twigs there to bring to the nest. They sure stand out well against the snow.<\/p>\n

\"Black-billedBlack-billed Magpie just after lift off – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 278mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I have found that early morning is the best time to photograph Black-billed Magpies, when the sun is higher the whites are much easier to blow out. This morning the light was wonderful but the birds weren’t as active as normal so I was only able to get a few keepable images in the time that I was with them. This Magpie had just lifted off after shoving a twig into place on top of the dome of the nest.<\/p>\n

\"Black-billedBlack-billed Magpie coming in with nesting material – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 285mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

These last two images are of the same bird bring nesting material to the nest. I wish I would have had better eye contact but I like that I was still able to get a sliver of a catch light in both frames and I like the action.<\/p>\n

\"Black-billedBlack-billed Magpie landing with nesting materials – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1600, ISO 640, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 285mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I am looking forward to having more time to photograph these Black-billed Magpies through their nesting season and perhaps; if I am lucky, I will be there the day that the young fledge. I have missed that the past two seasons. They are such beautiful birds.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

This is the third consecutive year that I have photographed Black-billed Magpies working on their nest in this same location on Antelope Island.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142499,"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":[511,27,245,1022,26],"tags":[10979,4073,9049,6692,4052,4122,1830,4123,4282,6005,4842,4075,5815,3976,4182,440,4450,4167,9045,9046,4050,9047,9048,373],"class_list":["post-4588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-black-billed-magpies","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","tag-black-billed-magpies","tag-breeding-season","tag-dome","tag-early-morning-light","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-greasewood","tag-landing","tag-lift-off","tag-magpie","tag-magpies","tag-nest","tag-nest-construction","tag-nesting","tag-nesting-material","tag-nesting-materials","tag-nesting-season","tag-pica-hudsonia","tag-pre-focus","tag-prefocus","tag-snow","tag-sticks","tag-twigs","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/black-billed-magpie-flight-mia-mcpherson-new-5975.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1c0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":121645,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/02\/20\/black-billed-magpie-with-nesting-materials\/","url_meta":{"origin":4588,"position":0},"title":"Black-billed Magpie With Nesting Materials","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"It was my first full spring in Utah, nearly 14 years ago, when my keen eyes were used to find my first Black-billed Magpie nest on Antelope Island State Park.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","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 in flight with nesting material for its nest, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, 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Nesting Black-billed Magpies At The Same Nest","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 28, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I am more than thrilled to once again observe and photograph nesting Black-billed Magpies using the same greasewood where I first photographed them almost ten years ago.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Black-billed Magpie lifting off from a bush with nesting material, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, 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22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"If I had not been paying attention to the first magpie's activity and behavior I would have missed the opportunity to photograph these birds and their nesting habits over the next several weeks.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","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 landing with nesting material. Antelope Island State Park, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/black-billed-magpie-mia-mcpherson-landing-nesting-4940.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/black-billed-magpie-mia-mcpherson-landing-nesting-4940.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/black-billed-magpie-mia-mcpherson-landing-nesting-4940.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/black-billed-magpie-mia-mcpherson-landing-nesting-4940.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":82221,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/03\/25\/black-billed-magpie-with-nesting-material\/","url_meta":{"origin":4588,"position":3},"title":"Black-billed Magpie With Nesting Material","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"It is Black-billed Magpie nesting season on Antelope Island State Park and throughout their breeding range in western North America.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Black-billed Magpie with nesting material, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/black-billed-magpie-adult-nesting-mia-mcpherson-0608.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/black-billed-magpie-adult-nesting-mia-mcpherson-0608.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35844,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/02\/19\/time-for-the-black-billed-magpie-nest-building-ballet\/","url_meta":{"origin":4588,"position":5},"title":"Time For The Black-billed Magpie Nest Building Ballet","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I know I am looking forward to photographing and watching the Black-billed Magpie nest building ballet that occurs each spring.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Black-billed Magpie landing with nesting material, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, 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