{"id":4597,"date":"2012-03-06T05:56:12","date_gmt":"2012-03-06T12:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=4597"},"modified":"2024-02-08T14:14:02","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T21:14:02","slug":"birds-and-bison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/06\/birds-and-bison\/","title":{"rendered":"Birds and Bison"},"content":{"rendered":"

Certain species of birds ride on the backs of bison and feed on the insects they find in the bison’s fur; European Starlings are among those birds.<\/p>\n

\"EuropeanEuropean Starling landing on a Bison’s back – Nikon D200, handheld, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 400, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 130mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This image not only shows a European Starling about to land on the back of the feeding American Bison, it also shows another bird flying past the bison’s leg. The bison was too close for me to use my Nikkor 200-400mm VR lens so I quickly grabbed my backup D200 with my 18-200mm VR attached.<\/p>\n

\"FlockFlock of European Starlings with a Bison – Nikon D200, handheld, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 400, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 120mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

It isn’t unusual to see European Starlings or Brown-headed Cowbirds riding on the backs of bison while on Antelope Island State Park, at times there might be 20+ birds on a single bison’s back. Usually I see that from a distance so yesterday I was glad that the bison and birds were closer to me than normal.<\/p>\n

\"EuropeanEuropean Starlings with a Bison and its tongue stuck out – Nikon D200, handheld, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 400, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 120mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The bison do not seem to mind the hitch hikers on their backs,\u00a0 I am not sure they even notice the birds. The winter coat of this bison is beginning to mat up on its back and shoulders, soon that fur will be shed and used by many of the birds on the island to line their nests. Loggerhead Shrikes seem to use the fur often as nesting material.<\/p>\n

The top of a bison’s tongue is a grayish color as shown in the photo above.<\/p>\n

\"BisonBison licking its nose with European Starlings on its back – Nikon D200, handheld, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 400, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 130mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The underside of a bison’s tongue is dark brown on the edges and a light bubble gum pink in the center as shown here.<\/p>\n

This bison and the others nearby were easily approachable while staying within the confines of a vehicle and I prefer it that way. I can stay safe.<\/p>\n

The other day I saw a photographer out walking through a grassy area of the park to get closer to some grazing bison. He was strolling through an area where he should not have been. That side of the park has signs that state clearly to “Stay on the Trails” and he was putting himself at risk trying to get closer to these wild, unpredictable animals. Before I left the area though I saw one of the Park Rangers slow down next to his vehicle as the guy slowly made his way back to it. I bet he was educated very quickly about the dangers of what he had been doing and got told to stay on the trails.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Certain species of birds ride on the backs of Bison and feed on the insects they find in the Bison’s fur; European Starlings are among those birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":120722,"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":[443,511,27,1022,249,26],"tags":[4004,4463,6866,4663,745,4314,11978,251,4052,4247,4122,4109,4062,4035,14245,4815,4739,4262,5185,4032,2776],"class_list":["post-4597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bison","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-european-starlings","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-bison","tag-back","tag-bison","tag-bison-bison","tag-bull","tag-desert-island","tag-european-starling","tag-flight","tag-flock","tag-flying","tag-grasses","tag-male","tag-nature-photography","tag-sit","tag-starling","tag-starlings","tag-sturnus-vulgaris","tag-tongue","tag-wildlife-photography","tag-winter-coat"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-bison-starlings-mia-mcpherson-6688.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1c9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32836,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/11\/17\/flocks-of-birds-and-american-bison\/","url_meta":{"origin":4597,"position":0},"title":"Flocks 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Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 6, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The light and clouds looked iffy this morning but Antelope Island didn't disappoint when it came to bison and birds plus some dramatic light.","rel":"","context":"In "American Bison"","block_context":{"text":"American Bison","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/bison\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Bison, European Starlings and a stormy sky, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-bison-european-starlings-mia-mcpherson-2450.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-bison-european-starlings-mia-mcpherson-2450.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Lake","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 23, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I love to get images of the American Bison and the Great Salt Lake in the same frame especially if there are mountains in the background so I was happy to get the snow covered Wasatch Mountains and the Great Salt Lake in this image","rel":"","context":"In "American Bison"","block_context":{"text":"American Bison","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/bison\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"European Starling hitching a ride on a Bison, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-bison-shore-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-6492.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-bison-shore-great-salt-lake-mia-mcpherson-6492.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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