{"id":46681,"date":"2017-05-10T05:05:04","date_gmt":"2017-05-10T11:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=46681"},"modified":"2026-01-31T11:06:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T17:06:32","slug":"lark-sparrow-loggerhead-shrike-in-northern-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/05\/10\/lark-sparrow-loggerhead-shrike-in-northern-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Lark Sparrow & Loggerhead Shrike in Northern Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LarkLark Sparrow singing in Box Elder County – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Some days in the field are slow which means there aren’t many birds seen or that there are birds seen but they are too far away and yesterday was one of those days where it was a combination of those two things.<\/p>\n

Until I spotted this Lark Sparrow on an old fence post I thought I was going to go home with a fairly empty memory card. It had been that slow.<\/p>\n

\"SingingSinging Lark Sparrow in northern Utah – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This beautiful little Lark Sparrow was so busy singing that it was a very cooperative subject and I took quite a few images of it as it sang and changed positions on the gnarly old fence post.<\/p>\n

\"LarkLark Sparrow perched on a old fence post in northern Utah – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t often have the opportunity to photograph Lark Sparrows as out in the open as this one was, normally they have sagebrush or other vegetation obscuring part of their bodies or they are in a cluttered habitat.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Lark Sparrow singing on a wooden fence post – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

So having this Lark Sparrow out in the open and cooperating was a joy. Listening to it was too.<\/p>\n

Listen to a Lark Sparrow singing here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"LarkLark Sparrow in a light breeze – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This Lark Sparrow may not have found a mate yet and could have been singing to attract a mate. Me, I am just glad it was such a confiding bird and allowed me to take so many images of it.<\/p>\n

\"LoggerheadLoggerhead Shrike perched on barbed wire – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

As I photographed the Lark Sparrow I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and looked over to see an adult Loggerhead Shrike that had perched on a nearby fence post, before I could point my lens at the shrike another shrike came in and passed some food to this shrike then flew off before I could fire a shot.<\/p>\n

The shrike was close enough to the sparrow that I wondered if the shrike would go after the sparrow. That has been known to happen. But the shrike flew off after the other shrike and the Lark Sparrow continued to sing.<\/p>\n

I did take a few images of the Loggerhead Shrikes together but they were from a long distance and the birds were really tiny in the frame.<\/p>\n

\"PerchedPerched adult Lark Sparrow in Box Elder County – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Lark Sparrow hung around for a little bit after the shrikes left and gave me some great views of its harlequin facial patterns on the old fence post before it flew away.<\/p>\n

I love birds and I love it when I can find cooperative birds that allow me to photograph them singing, posing and delighting my senses.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Lark Sparrow photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Loggerhead Shrike photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

P.S., the no-see-ums (biting gnats) are bad even in northern Utah. They ripped me up again yesterday.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This beautiful little Lark Sparrow was so busy singing that it was a very cooperative subject and I took quite a few images of it as it sang and changed positions on the gnarly old fence post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":161663,"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":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1148,1465,247,26],"tags":[4004,4430,4372,3830,898,4171,1539,4066,4104,3906,3907,4179,855,4195,165],"class_list":["post-46681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-lark-sparrows","category-loggerhead-shrikes","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-barbed-wire","tag-chondestes-grammacus","tag-fence","tag-fence-post","tag-lanius-ludovicianus","tag-lark-sparrow","tag-loggerhead-shrike","tag-perched","tag-shrike","tag-shrikes","tag-singing-2","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-spring"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lark-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-1876.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-c8V","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":53228,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/26\/lark-sparrow-with-droopy-wings-on-a-hot-summer-morning\/","url_meta":{"origin":46681,"position":0},"title":"Lark Sparrow With Droopy Wings On A Hot Summer Morning","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week while I was photographing some Lark Sparrows in northern Utah I took images of this one who had droopy wings because the sparrow was hot. I was hot, I know how the sparrow felt.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lark Sparrow with droopy wings, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/lark-sparrow-hot-mia-mcpherson-6125.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/lark-sparrow-hot-mia-mcpherson-6125.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/lark-sparrow-hot-mia-mcpherson-6125.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/lark-sparrow-hot-mia-mcpherson-6125.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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2021","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the first birds I heard singing three days ago in the West Desert of Tooele County was a Lark Sparrow perched on top of a sagebrush.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lark Sparrow with nesting materials in its bill, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lark-sparrow-adult-spring-mia-mmcpherson-9979.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lark-sparrow-adult-spring-mia-mmcpherson-9979.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lark-sparrow-adult-spring-mia-mmcpherson-9979.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lark-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-0956.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lark-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-0956.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lark-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-0956.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lark-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-0956.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26426,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/07\/08\/an-adult-lark-sparrow-with-prey\/","url_meta":{"origin":46681,"position":4},"title":"Adult Lark Sparrow with Prey","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Lark Sparrows are the easiest sparrows to identify that inhabit Antelope Island State Park with their bold facial patterns and white edged tails.","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":"An adult Lark Sparrow with prey on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lark-sparrow-adult-prey-mia-mcpherson-3556.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lark-sparrow-adult-prey-mia-mcpherson-3556.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lark-sparrow-adult-prey-mia-mcpherson-3556.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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