{"id":49384,"date":"2017-11-11T05:59:20","date_gmt":"2017-11-11T12:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=49384"},"modified":"2025-10-30T15:34:52","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T20:34:52","slug":"female-red-winged-blackbird-eating-wild-sunflower-seeds-in-autumn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/11\/11\/female-red-winged-blackbird-eating-wild-sunflower-seeds-in-autumn\/","title":{"rendered":"Female Red-winged Blackbird Eating Wild Sunflower Seeds In Autumn"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FemaleFemale Red-winged Blackbird on a wild sunflower stalk – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Many species of birds on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a> are pigging out on wild sunflower seeds at this time of the year including Red-winged Blackbirds. Some years the wild sunflowers are very abundant on the island and this was one of those years and although they are gorgeous while they are blooming and attract lots of bees, butterflies and other insects it is during the fall when they attract birds because of their seeds.<\/p>\n

A few days ago this female Red-winged Blackbird landed on a sunflower stalk close to me with a distant rabbitbrush in the background and proceeded to pluck sunflower seeds and eat them in nice morning light.<\/p>\n

\"PeekingPeeking female Red-winged Blackbird – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Typically I wouldn’t save an image like this one where the head of my subject is partially hidden but I thought the female blackbird looked kind of cute peering at me from behind the wild sunflower stems and seed heads. The wilted yellow flower petals add a nice bright touch of color to the images.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Red-winged Blackbird eating wild sunflower seeds – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Red-winged Blackbird female hung around long enough for me to take a couple of dozen photos of her as she grabbed seeds with her bill and chowed down on them.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t long after this photo was taken that something spooked the blackbirds, finches and sparrows in the area and they all flew off in a hurry but I’m glad I had a few moments with this Red-winged Blackbird before she left.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Many species of birds on Antelope Island State Park are pigging out on wild sunflower seeds at this time of the year including Red-winged Blackbirds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162374,"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":[511,27,1022,419,26],"tags":[4004,4151,3813,3483,4286,4070,4289,4324,2135,5052,1166],"class_list":["post-49384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-red-winged-blackbirds","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-agelaius-phoeniceus","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-eating","tag-female","tag-rabbitbrush","tag-red-winged-blackbird","tag-seeds","tag-sunflower","tag-wild-sunflower"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-female-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-6333.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cQw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49032,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/19\/juvenile-red-winged-blackbird-male-diving-towards-the-ground\/","url_meta":{"origin":49384,"position":0},"title":"Immature Red-winged Blackbird Male Diving Towards The Ground","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The plumage of male juvenile Red-winged Blackbirds is highly variable during their first year, some of the young blackbirds can look like females and some can look more like adult males.","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 male Red-winged Blackbird diving towards the ground, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9524.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9524.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9524.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9524.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":60640,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/10\/02\/male-red-winged-blackbird-on-a-sunflower-perch\/","url_meta":{"origin":49384,"position":1},"title":"Male Red-winged Blackbird On A Sunflower Perch","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Autumn is a time when the seeds of many plants that the Red-winged Blackbirds feed upon have ripened and the birds are taking full advantage of the season's bounty and spend a large part of their days foraging.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Red-winged Blackbird perched on a sunflower, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-young-male-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-0153.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-young-male-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-0153.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-young-male-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-0153.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-young-male-sunflower-mia-mcpherson-0153.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":141525,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/12\/male-red-winged-blackbird-on-corn-stalks\/","url_meta":{"origin":49384,"position":2},"title":"Male Red-winged Blackbird On Corn Stalks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"On my most recent trip to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I photographed an immature male Red-winged Blackbird perched on a corn stalk in a field.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young male Red-winged Blackbird at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-end-winter-mia-mcpherson-7443.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-end-winter-mia-mcpherson-7443.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-end-winter-mia-mcpherson-7443.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-end-winter-mia-mcpherson-7443.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42961,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/11\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-perched-in-rabbitbrush-fluff\/","url_meta":{"origin":49384,"position":3},"title":"Red-winged Blackbird Perched In Rabbitbrush Fluff","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Several of the Red-winged Blackbirds were feeding on the fluffy rabbitbrush seeds next to a parking area including this male.","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":"Red-winged Blackbird male perched in rabbitbrush, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-9869.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-9869.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-9869.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-male-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-9869.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34942,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/20\/a-female-red-winged-blackbird-at-white-rock-bay\/","url_meta":{"origin":49384,"position":4},"title":"Female Red-winged Blackbird at White Rock Bay","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I was delighted to photograph a female Red-winged Blackbird at White Rock Bay as she perched a dead greasewood branch.","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":"Female Red-winged Blackbird at White Rock Bay on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-5403.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-5403.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-5403.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/red-winged-blackbird-female-perched-mia-mcpherson-5403.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":138760,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/01\/14\/female-red-winged-blackbirds-in-fog-and-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":49384,"position":5},"title":"Female Red-winged Blackbirds In Fog And Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"After the recent snowstorm in Arkansas, I photographed several female Red-winged Blackbirds in foggy, snowy conditions. I had a great time taking their photos.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Red-winged Blackbirds in fog and snow, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/red-winged-blackbird-females-snow-fog-mia-mcpherson-9324.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/red-winged-blackbird-females-snow-fog-mia-mcpherson-9324.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/red-winged-blackbird-females-snow-fog-mia-mcpherson-9324.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/red-winged-blackbird-females-snow-fog-mia-mcpherson-9324.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}