{"id":47923,"date":"2017-08-04T04:30:02","date_gmt":"2017-08-04T10:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=47923"},"modified":"2025-11-08T10:59:57","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T16:59:57","slug":"two-headed-juvenile-western-king-bird-a-mere-optical-illusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/08\/04\/two-headed-juvenile-western-king-bird-a-mere-optical-illusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Two-headed Juvenile Western Kingbird? A Mere Optical Illusion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"WesternWestern Kingbird siblings – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I spent a few hours on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a> yesterday morning and although there weren’t many birds to be found that allowed a close enough approach to photograph them I sill enjoyed visiting the island.<\/p>\n

I only photographed two species of birds, a single California Gull who was having trouble staying on top of one of the campground shelters and a family of Western Kingbirds.<\/p>\n

I really didn’t think there would be anything great or special in the photos I took yesterday because all of the birds were on man made perches, in fact I loaded them into my computer and didn’t even look at them for several hours.<\/p>\n

As I scrolled through the thumbnails of the photos I took yesterday morning on the island I saw this one and laughed out loud.<\/p>\n

This image kind of looks like I photographed a two-headed juvenile Western Kingbird but it is really an optical illusion.<\/p>\n

When the young kingbird in front stretched its wing the wing covered all of the sibling in the back except for its head which happened to be aligned with the neck of the bird in front.<\/p>\n

I feel like this photo isn’t all that good because of the metal post and fence material but it made me laugh and I needed that. We all need laughter. And birds.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

This image kind of looks like I photographed a two-headed juvenile Western Kingbird but it is really an optical illusion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":133334,"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":[511,27,1022,26,534],"tags":[11978,3808,4884,4067,56,3791,3772,6017,4104,3829,3964,2315,4183,298,4411,4193],"class_list":["post-47923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","category-western-kingbirds","tag-desert-island","tag-flycatcher","tag-flycatchers","tag-immature","tag-juveniles-2","tag-kingbird","tag-kingbirds","tag-optical-illusion","tag-perched","tag-siblings","tag-stretching","tag-summer-3","tag-tyrannus-verticalis","tag-tyrant-flycatchers-2","tag-western-kingbird","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/western-kingbird-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-1730.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-csX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37497,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/03\/27\/adult-western-kingbird-close-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":47923,"position":0},"title":"Adult Western Kingbird Close Up","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 27, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This adult Western Kingbird close up was photographed two years ago on Antelope Island State Park as it perched on a sign post close to a nest site.","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 Western Kingbird, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-mia-mcpherson-2903.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-mia-mcpherson-2903.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-mia-mcpherson-2903.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-mia-mcpherson-2903.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":24569,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/05\/26\/western-kingbirds-in-all-kinds-of-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":47923,"position":1},"title":"Western Kingbirds in All Kinds of Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"By the third or fourth visit to the area where the Western Kingbirds were located the sun was shining and the light was great. I felt like singing along with the kingbird to celebrate the clearing sky.","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":"Western Kingbird wing lift in low light, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-5044.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-5044.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-wing-lift-mia-mcpherson-5044.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"June 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I had fun photographing Western Kingbirds again yesterday on Antelope Island State Park and hours later I was still hearing their calls in my mind.","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":"Western Kingbird on the wing, in flight from one perch to another, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-8052.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-8052.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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