{"id":58353,"date":"2019-06-04T05:32:58","date_gmt":"2019-06-04T11:32:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=58353"},"modified":"2025-06-13T15:42:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-13T20:42:00","slug":"photographing-broad-tailed-hummingbirds-in-the-wasatch-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/06\/04\/photographing-broad-tailed-hummingbirds-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographing Broad-tailed Hummingbirds In The Wasatch Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale Broad-tailed Hummingbird hovering in front of blooming Black Twinberry Honeysuckle – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I had more fun photographing Broad-tailed Hummingbirds in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a> yesterday morning, probably more fun than should be legal. I’ve been able to locate a few perches that are favorites for the males which I mentioned in a previous post is like finding gold for me as a bird photographer<\/span><\/a>. One male Broad-tailed Hummingbird hangs out on a favorite perch near a creek and for now he feeds on nearby blooming Black Twinberry Honeysuckle blossoms. Whether he will hang around after those wildflowers finish blooming remains to be seen. He defended his territory several times as I photographed him yesterday morning.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Broad-tailed Hummingbird perched in blooming Black Twinberry Honeysuckle – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

But when a female Broad-tailed Hummingbird showed up he didn’t try to chase her away instead he put on an aerial display for her as she perched near the honeysuckle and fed on the nectar. I can’t say whether she was impressed by his courtship or not because after she finished feeding she flew off.<\/p>\n

I’ve only photographed two Broad-tailed Hummingbird females so far this year and one was so close I didn’t have the depth of field I would have liked.<\/p>\n

\"Broad-tailedBroad-tailed Hummingbird male landing on his favorite perch – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Then I spent time taking photos of this male Broad-tailed Hummingbird and his favorite perch further down the dirt road. I was delighted that the angle of light lit up his colorful gorget when he landed while facing towards me. He flew in so fast that there were times when kept my camera pre-focused on the perch and took my eyes away from the viewfinder to watch for his approach. His wings made more noise taking off than when he was landing so I felt that seeing him was better than listening for him to arrive.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Broad-tailed Hummingbird showing his colorful gorget – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes that worked and sometimes having my eye on the viewfinder worked better. I can say that by the time I left this hummingbird’s favorite perch my arms and fingers were exhausted from holding my camera for such a long time and having my finger on the shutter button constantly.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Broad-tailed Hummingbird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

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

I had more fun photographing Broad-tailed Hummingbirds in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday morning, probably more fun than should be legal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":148474,"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":[27,2340,4594,1731,26,773],"tags":[4004,6603,6098,2651,6561,4070,6596,4174,6043,2652,4123,6600,4062,4104,8301,8300,2341,4307],"class_list":["post-58353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-broad-tailed-hummingbirds","category-morgan-county","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-black-twinberry-honeysuckle","tag-blooming","tag-broad-tailed-hummingbird","tag-favorite-perch","tag-female","tag-gorget","tag-hovering-2","tag-hummingbird","tag-hummingbirds-2","tag-landing","tag-lonicera-involucrata","tag-male","tag-perched","tag-photograph","tag-photographing","tag-selasphorus-platycercus","tag-wildflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/broad-tailed-hummingbird-male-landing-mia-mcpherson-7590.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fbb","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":58286,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/06\/01\/broad-tailed-hummingbird-bliss-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":58353,"position":0},"title":"Broad-tailed Hummingbird Bliss in The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 1, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent yesterday morning enjoying a Broad-tailed Hummingbird bliss in the Wasatch Mountains by finding their favorite perches and photographing them feeding, resting, and defending their territories.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Broad-tailed Hummingbird at a blooming Black Twinberry Honeysuckle, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, 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Twinberry Honeysuckle Nectar","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The little Black-chinned Hummingbird did actually take flight to feed on the nectar of the honeysuckle and for a few moments was able to hover peacefully before the male Broad-tailed chased him off.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Black-chinned Hummingbird feeding on the nectar of blooming Black Twinberry Honeysuckle, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/black-chinned-hummingbird-male-black-twinberry-mia-mcpherson-2336.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/black-chinned-hummingbird-male-black-twinberry-mia-mcpherson-2336.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/black-chinned-hummingbird-male-black-twinberry-mia-mcpherson-2336.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/black-chinned-hummingbird-male-black-twinberry-mia-mcpherson-2336.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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