{"id":51108,"date":"2018-03-01T05:38:04","date_gmt":"2018-03-01T12:38:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=51108"},"modified":"2026-02-12T07:16:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T13:16:51","slug":"photographing-american-tree-sparrows-in-northern-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/03\/01\/photographing-american-tree-sparrows-in-northern-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographing American Tree Sparrows in Northern Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had a great deal of fun yesterday morning while photographing the American Tree Sparrows that I found in abundance on Antelope Island State Park<\/span><\/a> foraging on the ground and perching on the bushes on the northern end of the island.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Tree Sparrow foraging on the ground – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

American Tree Sparrows are only here in Utah during their nonbreeding season and in just a few weeks they will start to migrate to their breeding grounds in Alaska and northern Canada.<\/p>\n

This sparrow was foraging on open ground yesterday morning near some greasewoods and I could easily see that some spring growth of the grasses has already begun beneath the sparrow’s feet.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Tree Sparrow in the snow – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

But there were areas that were still covered by the snow from the storms last week and I was excited to take photos of the American Tree Sparrows that included the snow on the ground because the birds stood out so well because of it.<\/p>\n

This sparrow was moving out of the safety of the bushes and into the open when I photographed it.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Tree Sparrow on a bright winter day – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/6400, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

And this sparrow was standing on a mound of snow out in the open, this species sure doesn’t stand still for long which is why I maintained such a high shutter speed.<\/p>\n

I did manage to get a few sharp images of the American Tree Sparrows as they lifted off but unfortunately they turned their backs to me in all of those photos.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Tree Sparrow hunting for food – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/6400, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The sparrow from the photo above moved a few inches to the north and began to hunt for seeds in the plants that were close to the ground.<\/p>\n

When I saw this image on my monitor at home yesterday I couldn’t help but smile at the crouched pose of the bird who seemed entirely focused on finding food. That tail sticking straight up made me chuckle too.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Tree Sparrow turning its head upside down for food – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/6400, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

And then the sparrow turned its head upside down to pluck a seed from the dried plant and I laughed out loud when I saw this photo at home on my big screen.<\/p>\n

I know I don’t have a catch light in the bird’s eye but I really loved the foraging behavior and the funny pose shown in this photo.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Tree Sparrow perched out in the open – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Many of the American Tree Sparrows I saw yesterday morning were too far away to obtain high quality images of them. It was worth spending the time there yesterday for the sparrows that did come up close enough for me to take these photos.<\/p>\n

I’ll miss these little sparrows when they head north for their breeding season but I am always happy to see them while they are here.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I had a great deal of fun yesterday morning while photographing the American Tree Sparrows that I found in abundance on Antelope Island State Park foraging on the ground and perching on the bushes on the northern end of the island. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":140644,"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":[2133,511,27,1022,26],"tags":[2815,1130,4136,4157,4104,8301,8300,4050,855,4195,2134,9114,2214,373],"class_list":["post-51108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-tree-sparrows","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-utah","tag-american-tree-sparrow","tag-food","tag-foraging","tag-funny","tag-perched","tag-photograph","tag-photographing","tag-snow","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-spizelloides-arborea","tag-tree-sparrow","tag-upside-down","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-snow-mia-mcpherson-4436.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-dik","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49611,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/11\/29\/american-tree-sparrows-galore\/","url_meta":{"origin":51108,"position":0},"title":"American Tree Sparrows Galore","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 29, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm seeing more American Tree Sparrows than I've seen since I moved to Utah in 2009 and I hope that means they had a very successful breeding season in 2017.","rel":"","context":"In "American Tree Sparrows"","block_context":{"text":"American Tree Sparrows","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/emberzine-sparrows-allies\/american-tree-sparrows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Tree Sparrow up close, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-close-up-mia-mcpherson-8910.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-close-up-mia-mcpherson-8910.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-close-up-mia-mcpherson-8910.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-close-up-mia-mcpherson-8910.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54835,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/02\/anxiously-awaiting-my-first-of-season-american-tree-sparrows\/","url_meta":{"origin":51108,"position":1},"title":"Anxiously Awaiting My First Of Season American Tree Sparrows","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I checked eBird this morning and I only see one person reporting American Tree Sparrows so far this autumn in northern Utah so hopefully that means one more cold front pushing through and I will be seeing these long-tailed, rusty capped sparrows with their gray heads, rusty eyelines and bicolored\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "American Tree Sparrows"","block_context":{"text":"American Tree Sparrows","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/emberzine-sparrows-allies\/american-tree-sparrows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Tree Sparrow foraging on the bare ground, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-ground-mia-mcpherson-8839.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-ground-mia-mcpherson-8839.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-ground-mia-mcpherson-8839.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-ground-mia-mcpherson-8839.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49368,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/11\/09\/american-tree-sparrow-on-antelope-island\/","url_meta":{"origin":51108,"position":2},"title":"American Tree Sparrow on Antelope Island","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 9, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I have been having fairly good luck spotting American Tree Sparrows this fall and when this one popped up on top of a greasewood yesterday I was delighted.","rel":"","context":"In "American Tree Sparrows"","block_context":{"text":"American Tree Sparrows","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/emberzine-sparrows-allies\/american-tree-sparrows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Tree Sparrow on Greasewood, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-6108.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-6108.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-6108.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-6108.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56348,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/02\/27\/our-american-tree-sparrows-will-soon-be-winging-their-way-north\/","url_meta":{"origin":51108,"position":3},"title":"Our American Tree Sparrows Will Soon Be Winging Their Way North","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 27, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Before too long these small but handsome American Tree Sparrows will be winging their way north to their breeding grounds in the thickets and open tundra of northern Canada and Alaska.","rel":"","context":"In "American Tree Sparrows"","block_context":{"text":"American Tree Sparrows","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/emberzine-sparrows-allies\/american-tree-sparrows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Tree Sparrow on top of fresh snow, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-snow-mia-mcpherson-4455.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-snow-mia-mcpherson-4455.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-snow-mia-mcpherson-4455.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-snow-mia-mcpherson-4455.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56730,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/03\/19\/early-spring-american-tree-sparrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":51108,"position":4},"title":"Early Spring American Tree Sparrow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The last time I wrote about American Tree Sparrows I said that they would be migrating soon and that I hoped I could take a few more photos of them before they migrated and I had that opportunity two days ago.","rel":"","context":"In "American Tree Sparrows"","block_context":{"text":"American Tree Sparrows","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/emberzine-sparrows-allies\/american-tree-sparrows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring American Tree Sparrow, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-twigs-mia-mcpherson-2437.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-twigs-mia-mcpherson-2437.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-twigs-mia-mcpherson-2437.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-twigs-mia-mcpherson-2437.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49199,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/10\/30\/blue-gray-gnatcatcher-american-goldfinch-american-tree-sparrow-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":51108,"position":5},"title":"Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, American Goldfinch & American Tree Sparrow in Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent time photographing primarily small birds yesterday in northern Utah which included Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, American Goldfinches and American Tree Sparrows.","rel":"","context":"In "American Goldfinches"","block_context":{"text":"American Goldfinches","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/finches-and-allies\/american-goldfinches\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Tree Sparrow in the shadows, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-autumn-mia-mcpherson-4271.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-autumn-mia-mcpherson-4271.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-autumn-mia-mcpherson-4271.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/american-tree-sparrow-autumn-mia-mcpherson-4271.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\/51108","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=51108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}