{"id":52101,"date":"2018-05-14T05:51:25","date_gmt":"2018-05-14T11:51:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=52101"},"modified":"2025-11-08T13:04:37","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T19:04:37","slug":"adult-western-kingbird-perched-on-rusty-barbed-wire-in-northern-utah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/05\/14\/adult-western-kingbird-perched-on-rusty-barbed-wire-in-northern-utah\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult Western Kingbird Perched on Rusty Barbed Wire in Northern Utah"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-163190 size-full\" title=\"Adult Western Kingbird perched on rusty barbed wire, Box Elder County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-mia-mcpherson-8949.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-mia-mcpherson-8949.jpg\" alt=\"Adult Western Kingbird perched on rusty barbed wire, Box Elder County, Utah\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-mia-mcpherson-8949-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-mia-mcpherson-8949-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-mia-mcpherson-8949-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-mia-mcpherson-8949-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-mia-mcpherson-8949-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-mia-mcpherson-8949.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Adult Western Kingbird perched on rusty barbed wire &#8211; Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500,\u00a0 Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Barbed wire is everywhere in the West, people have fought about fencing since the pioneers moved out this way. I hate when birds and wildlife get tangled up in it like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/01\/12\/a-visit-with-galileo-the-short-eared-owl-at-hawkwatch-international\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Galileo, the Short-eared Owl<\/span><\/a> that I helped to rescue, did two years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Love it or hate it though, that barbed wire is here to stay and will be in my photos as long as I photograph birds.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t mind old barbed wire in my photos because once it gets rusty it isn&#8217;t so jarring to my aesthetic senses, it is that brand new, shiny wire that gets me.<\/p>\n<p>Last week I photographed this adult <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/guide\/Western_Kingbird\/lifehistory\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Western Kingbird<\/span><\/a> perched on rusty barbed wire up in northern Utah with spring greenery behind it and I liked the greens, yellows, grays and whites in the photo.<\/p>\n<p>Because of our high temperatures in the Salt Lake Valley during the summer that &#8220;spring green&#8221; soon turns to tans and browns. Except for the irrigated lawns and fields that is.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/western-kingbird-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Western Kingbird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week I photographed this adult Western Kingbird perched on rusty barbed wire up in northern Utah with spring greenery behind it and I liked the greens, yellows, grays and whites in the photo. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":163190,"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":[27,1148,26,534],"tags":[4004,4430,3830,3808,4884,6495,3791,3772,4104,165,4183,298,4411],"class_list":["post-52101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","category-western-kingbirds","tag-adult","tag-barbed-wire","tag-fence","tag-flycatcher","tag-flycatchers","tag-greenery","tag-kingbird","tag-kingbirds","tag-perched","tag-spring","tag-tyrannus-verticalis","tag-tyrant-flycatchers-2","tag-western-kingbird"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-mia-mcpherson-8949.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-dyl","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5322,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/07\/11\/western-kingbird-on-barbed-wire\/","url_meta":{"origin":52101,"position":0},"title":"Western Kingbird On Barbed Wire","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Western Kingbirds appear to have had a wonderful nesting season here in Utah because there are plenty of young birds perching on wires and branches loudly demanding food from the frazzled looking adults.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bear River MBR Western Kingbird on barbed wire, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-4582.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-mia-mcpherson-4582.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-4582.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-4582.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9096,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/05\/western-kingbird-juvenile\/","url_meta":{"origin":52101,"position":1},"title":"Western Kingbird Juvenile","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't often have the opportunity to photograph juvenile Western Kingbirds but last week I did at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Box Elder County.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Western Kingbird juvenile on a barbed wire perch, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-young-mia-mcpherson-0064.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-young-mia-mcpherson-0064.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-young-mia-mcpherson-0064.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-young-mia-mcpherson-0064.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51727,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/04\/20\/our-western-kingbirds-have-returned-to-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":52101,"position":2},"title":"Our Western Kingbirds Have Returned To Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I did see a Western Kingbird two days ago but the only photos I have of that bird were taken on a barbed wire fence and I have more of those type of images than I know what to do with and nothing about those images were appealing, unique or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","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 adult on nest, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-nest-mia-mcpherson-2271.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-nest-mia-mcpherson-2271.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-nest-mia-mcpherson-2271.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-adult-nest-mia-mcpherson-2271.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":105192,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/08\/20\/young-western-kingbird-in-the-west-desert\/","url_meta":{"origin":52101,"position":3},"title":"Young Western Kingbird In The West Desert","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"While I was out exploring in the West Desert three days ago I spotted this young Western Kingbird perched on a barbed wire fence close to the road.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Western Kingbird after eating a bug, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/western-kingbird-immature-mia-mcpherson-5796.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/western-kingbird-immature-mia-mcpherson-5796.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/western-kingbird-immature-mia-mcpherson-5796.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/western-kingbird-immature-mia-mcpherson-5796.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39583,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/05\/19\/western-kingbird-with-a-hint-of-black-mustard\/","url_meta":{"origin":52101,"position":4},"title":"Western Kingbird With A Hint Of Black Mustard","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning while in Box Elder County I was delighted to photograph a Western Kingbird with a Hint of Black Mustard in the background as it perched on a fence near the road.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Western Kingbird with Black Mustard in the background, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-black-mustard-mia-mcpherson-0851.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-black-mustard-mia-mcpherson-0851.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-black-mustard-mia-mcpherson-0851.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-black-mustard-mia-mcpherson-0851.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":113327,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/08\/my-first-of-year-western-kingbird-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":52101,"position":5},"title":"My First Of Year Western Kingbird Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"On my last trip to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I was tickled to take my first of year Western Kingbird photos when I was heading back to the interstate.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"First of year Western Kingbird on a barb wire fence, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-kingbird-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2541.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-kingbird-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2541.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-kingbird-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2541.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/western-kingbird-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2541.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\/52101","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=52101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}