{"id":47820,"date":"2017-07-28T04:27:30","date_gmt":"2017-07-28T10:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=47820"},"modified":"2025-08-07T09:19:52","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T14:19:52","slug":"black-billed-magpie-juvenile-perched-on-a-sign-on-antelope-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/07\/28\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-perched-on-a-sign-on-antelope-island\/","title":{"rendered":"Black-billed Magpie Juvenile Perched On A Sign on Antelope Island"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Black-billedBlack-billed Magpie juvenile perched on a sign – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I have often said I prefer to photograph my avian subjects on natural perches instead of man made items but there are times I find that I actually like the man made perches too.<\/p>\n

There was a tribe of juvenile Black-billed Magpies on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a> yesterday down near White Rock Bay that were wandering around in the area near the Buffalo Point trailhead. Some were perched on the greasewoods there, some were on the ground looking for food, and one was perched right on top of the trailhead sign.<\/p>\n

The Black-billed Magpie on the sign was the closest and I decided even though it was on a man made perch that I would photograph it.<\/p>\n

Once I viewed the photo on my computer monitor I knew I wanted to process it and share it today because I like the pose of the bird, the smooth background, the rusty part of the signpost plus I also like the little informational icons on the sign below the magpies tail.<\/p>\n

A group of Black-billed Magpies can be called a \u201ctribe\u201d, \u201ctittering\u201d, \u201cgulp\u201d, \u201ccharm\u201d and a \u201cmischief\u201d of magpies, yesterday they sure seemed like a tribe of hunter-gathers scouring the area for food.<\/p>\n

I could tell that the magpies I was photographing were juveniles because of the dark lavender color of their eyes and because their tails are shorter than the tails of adults. It looks like the Black-billed Magpies on Antelope Island had a successful breeding season, at least in that area of the park.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

There was a tribe of juvenile Black-billed Magpies on Antelope Island State Park yesterday down near White Rock Bay that were wandering around in the area near the Buffalo Point trailhead<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":151863,"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":[511,27,245,1022,26],"tags":[1813,11978,4067,6006,4071,6005,4842,4104,4167,4681,2315],"class_list":["post-47820","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-magpie","tag-desert-island","tag-immature","tag-informational-sign","tag-juvenile","tag-magpie","tag-magpies","tag-perched","tag-pica-hudsonia","tag-sign","tag-summer-3"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-sign-mia-mcpherson-8735.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cri","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15540,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/08\/02\/a-teenage-black-billed-magpie\/","url_meta":{"origin":47820,"position":0},"title":"Immature Black-billed Magpie","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Right now on Antelope Island State Park teenaged birds are molting into their adult plumage including young Black-billed Magpies.","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":"Juvenile Black-billed Magpie, Antelope Island State Park, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/black-billed-magpie-young-mia-mcpherson-5264.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/black-billed-magpie-young-mia-mcpherson-5264.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/black-billed-magpie-young-mia-mcpherson-5264.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":121645,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/02\/20\/black-billed-magpie-with-nesting-materials\/","url_meta":{"origin":47820,"position":1},"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, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/black-billed-magpie-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-7510.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/black-billed-magpie-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-7510.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/black-billed-magpie-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-7510.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/black-billed-magpie-nesting-material-mia-mcpherson-7510.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2514,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/06\/13\/black-billed-magpie-juveniles\/","url_meta":{"origin":47820,"position":2},"title":"Black-billed Magpie Juveniles","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 13, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Adults have black eyes, the Black-billed Magpie juveniles have blue, gray or even violet eyes.","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":"Portrait of a Black-billed Magpie juvenile. The pinkish gape and violet-blue eyes indicate this is a juvenile. Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-calling-utah-mia-mcpherson-2073.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-calling-utah-mia-mcpherson-2073.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-calling-utah-mia-mcpherson-2073.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36979,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/03\/10\/an-immature-black-billed-magpie-in-flight\/","url_meta":{"origin":47820,"position":3},"title":"An Immature Black-billed Magpie in Flight","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this immature Black-billed Magpie in flight last September on Antelope Island State Park as it flew over a rabbitbrush that was just about to bloom.","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":"Immature Black-billed Magpie in flight, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-3642.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-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-3642.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-3642.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/black-billed-magpie-juvenile-flight-mia-mcpherson-3642.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":65764,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/02\/28\/ten-years-of-photographing-nesting-black-billed-magpies-at-the-same-nest\/","url_meta":{"origin":47820,"position":4},"title":"Ten Years Of Photographing 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 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2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35174,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/31\/portraits-of-a-black-billed-magpie-in-a-snowstorm\/","url_meta":{"origin":47820,"position":5},"title":"Portraits of a Black-billed Magpie in a Snowstorm","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The first bird I raised my lens for yesterday was this Black-billed Magpie in a snowstorm near the visitor center.","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 close up in a snowstorm on Antelope Island State Park in Davis County, 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