{"id":58229,"date":"2019-05-29T05:13:47","date_gmt":"2019-05-29T11:13:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=58229"},"modified":"2025-05-20T16:05:47","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T21:05:47","slug":"five-male-yellow-headed-blackbird-images-from-the-marsh-at-bear-river-mbr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/05\/29\/five-male-yellow-headed-blackbird-images-from-the-marsh-at-bear-river-mbr\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Male Yellow-headed Blackbird Images From The Marsh At Bear River MBR"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Yellow-headedYellow-headed Blackbird male preening on a cattail – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I wanted to share a five image series of a male Yellow-headed Blackbird that I photographed in the marshes of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> this morning that I took the second week of May.<\/p>\n

In just a few seconds this blackbird preened, called, displayed, sang and called some more while perched on a cattail in the marsh and I felt lucky to take images of it while I was on the phone with my oldest son and to share what I was seeing with him while I took photos of the blackbird.<\/p>\n

I took a cell phone image of that area of the marsh and sent it to my son while I was talking to him along with a back of the camera snap of the bird.<\/p>\n

Click on the first photo below for a slide show.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"Male<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Male<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div>
\"Back<\/a><\/div><\/div>
\"Male<\/a><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Because of technology I was able to share what I was seeing and doing with my son who lives in North Carolina almost instantly using my cell phone. Even 15 years ago I wouldn’t have been able to do that. Isn’t technology wonderful?<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Yellow-headed Blackbird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wanted to share a five image series of a male Yellow-headed Blackbird that I photographed in the marshes of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge this morning that I took the second week of May.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":145704,"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":[124,27,1148,26,427],"tags":[4004,5180,3813,3483,4072,4366,779,4247,4062,4094,4019,4178,1386],"class_list":["post-58229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","category-yellow-headed-blackbird","tag-adult","tag-back-view","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-calling","tag-cattails","tag-displaying","tag-flock","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-preening-2","tag-xanthocephalus-xanthocephalus","tag-yellow-headed-blackbird"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-3538.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-f9b","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4849,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/20\/yellow-headed-blackbird-and-a-midge\/","url_meta":{"origin":58229,"position":0},"title":"Yellow-headed Blackbird and a Midge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) can perch on cattails, reeds, rushes or mounds of vegetation and snatch Midges right out of the air.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","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":"Yellow-headed Blackbird male about to grab a midge from the air, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-mia-mcpherson-4765.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-mia-mcpherson-4765.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-mia-mcpherson-4765.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-mia-mcpherson-4765.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":125374,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/22\/male-yellow-headed-blackbird-video-and-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":58229,"position":1},"title":"Male Yellow-headed Blackbird Video And Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 22, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this week I stopped to take a video of a singing male Yellow-headed Blackbird on the auto tour loop of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I'm glad I did.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","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":"Male Yellow-headed Blackbird on the last day of winter, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-marsh-mia-mcpherson-1075.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-marsh-mia-mcpherson-1075.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-marsh-mia-mcpherson-1075.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-marsh-mia-mcpherson-1075.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101040,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/26\/singing-female-yellow-headed-blackbird-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":58229,"position":2},"title":"Singing Female Yellow-headed Blackbird At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a wonderful and relaxing morning at Bear River MBR yesterday and took photos of a female Yellow-headed Blackbird singing on the marsh not long after sunrise.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","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":"Singing female Yellow-headed Blackbird, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-adult-female-spring-mia-mcpherson-4808.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-adult-female-spring-mia-mcpherson-4808.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-adult-female-spring-mia-mcpherson-4808.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-adult-female-spring-mia-mcpherson-4808.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4696,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/03\/30\/yellow-headed-blackbirds-friday-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":58229,"position":3},"title":"Yellow-headed Blackbirds – Friday Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Yellow-headed Blackbirds have begun to show up in large numbers in my area of the country. I'm seeing them perched on cattails, phragmites and in flight.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","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":"Yellow-headed Blackbird male displaying, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-1642.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-1642.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-1642.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-1642.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":111843,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/31\/snow-weary-and-needing-a-bird-fix\/","url_meta":{"origin":58229,"position":4},"title":"Snow Weary And Needing A Bird Fix","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 31, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"More fresh snow on the ground this morning. I am snow weary. What I need is a bird, nature, gone exploring in the wild fix with no real or clear return time.","rel":"","context":"In "American Avocets"","block_context":{"text":"American Avocets","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/shorebirds\/american-avocets\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring male Red-winged Blackbird singing, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-spring-marsh-mia-mcpherson-1613.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-spring-marsh-mia-mcpherson-1613.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-spring-marsh-mia-mcpherson-1613.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/red-winged-blackbird-male-spring-marsh-mia-mcpherson-1613.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":51446,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/03\/29\/springtime-yellow-headed-blackbird-male\/","url_meta":{"origin":58229,"position":5},"title":"Springtime Yellow-headed Blackbird Male","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Yellow-head Blackbirds made their presence known at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge two days ago by displaying and because of their odd mechanical calls that sound like a rusty metal gate opening and closing.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","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":"Springtime Yellow-headed Blackbird, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-mia-mcpherson-9831.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-mia-mcpherson-9831.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-mia-mcpherson-9831.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-mia-mcpherson-9831.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\/58229","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=58229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}