{"id":54854,"date":"2018-11-03T06:17:19","date_gmt":"2018-11-03T12:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=54854"},"modified":"2025-10-21T17:48:50","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T22:48:50","slug":"adult-white-crowned-sparrows-feeding-on-greasewood-seeds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/03\/adult-white-crowned-sparrows-feeding-on-greasewood-seeds\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult White-crowned Sparrows Feeding On Greasewood Seeds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult White-crowned Sparrow perched on top of a greasewood – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

It sure seems like I have been focusing on sparrows a lot this fall and I am okay with that, I enjoy photographing little brown birds because they are challenging and I really like sparrows.<\/p>\n

Yesterday morning I photographed American Goldfinches, House Finches and White-crowned Sparrows that were busy feeding on greasewood seeds. Greasewood is an important food source for birds and small mammals here in northern Utah. Greasewood can be toxic to livestock; sheep in particular, because of sodium and potassium oxalates that are found in the leaves but that doesn’t seem to bother the birds that eat the seeds which is probably due to the fact that the seeds contain less of those toxins.<\/p>\n

I have no idea what the pinkish area in the background is in the upper right of this frame, it may be a vehicle in a parking lot. I’m not sure if I like it or dislike it being in the frame.<\/p>\n

\"White-crownedWhite-crowned Sparrow adult feeding on greasewood seeds – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This White-crowned Sparrow adult perched on a greasewood and proceeded to extract the seeds from the fruit with its bill. I wish the sparrow had stayed on this perch a little longer than it did because I liked this setting.<\/p>\n

The white fluffy stuff attached to the greasewoods in these photos are not from the greasewoods, they are fluffy seeds from phragmites that get stuck on the shrubs a few days earlier when the wind was blowing hard.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult White-crowned Sparrow lifting off from a greasewood – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I was happy to be able to capture one of the adult White-crowned Sparrows<\/span><\/a> lifting off from a greasewood just before I headed home. Even though my shutter speed was high it wasn’t high enough to freeze the motion of the sparrow’s wings.<\/p>\n

Oh well, being frustrated with small things like this seems to come with the territory of being a bird photographer.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Yesterday morning I photographed American Goldfinches, House Finches and White-crowned Sparrows that were busy feeding on greasewood seeds. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":161195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[27,1022,697,26,356],"tags":[4004,970,4620,4040,1830,4944,4104,1831,2135,855,4195,4327,4256],"class_list":["post-54854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","category-white-crowned-sparrows","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-fall","tag-feeding","tag-greasewood","tag-lifting-off","tag-perched","tag-sarcobatus-vermiculatus","tag-seeds","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-white-crowned-sparrow","tag-zonotrichia-leucophrys"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-greasewood-mia-mcpherson-5647.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-egK","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":62034,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/12\/13\/portrait-of-an-adult-white-crowned-sparrow-eating-greasewood-seeds\/","url_meta":{"origin":54854,"position":0},"title":"Portrait Of An Adult White-crowned Sparrow Eating Greasewood Seeds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"When I look at this White-crowned Sparrow portrait I can count the orbital feathers of the bottom portion of the bird's eye and the rictal bristles near the bill.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult White-crowned Sparrow feeding on Greasewood seeds, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4103.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4103.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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White-crowned Sparrow Portrait","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I haven't seen as many sparrows this winter as I typically do, so I was tickled to take a few White-crowned Sparrow portraits at Farmington Bay WMA on Friday.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter White-crowned Sparrow adult portrait, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-winter-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9496.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-winter-portrait-mia-mcpherson-9496.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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