{"id":58393,"date":"2019-06-06T05:30:42","date_gmt":"2019-06-06T11:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=58393"},"modified":"2025-10-26T06:58:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T11:58:05","slug":"green-tailed-towhee-close-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/06\/06\/green-tailed-towhee-close-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Green-tailed Towhee Close Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CloseClose up Green-tailed Towhee framed by a blooming serviceberry – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Two days ago I was up in the Wasatch Mountains photographing a male Broad-tailed Hummingbird on his favorite perch and while I kept my focus primarily on the little flying jewel I learned a long time ago to also look beyond the viewfinder because I just never know what else might show up that I might want to photograph.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it is a risk to take my eye away from the viewfinder and my primary subject since I might miss some great action or interesting behavior but there are times that I feel it is worth taking the chance.<\/p>\n

While the hummingbird was on his perch I took my eye away from the viewfinder and looked at the currant bushes surrounding the serviceberry and then back at the lower part of the serviceberry and caught a bit of movement in the thick leaves.<\/p>\n

Then I caught sight of a Green-tailed Towhee’s head buried in the serviceberry, I held my breath and hoped it would move towards an open area of the shrub.<\/p>\n

At first when the towhee moved out in the open it had its back to me and I had to turn my camera vertically to fit the entire towhee into the frame.<\/p>\n

I knew even as I took those photos that I wasn’t going to like them because of the towhee’s head angle, it was facing too far away from me. So I hoped it would move again.<\/p>\n

And it did.<\/p>\n

The Green-tailed Towhee moved to another branch of the serviceberry that was out in the open and even a bit closer to me than it had been on the previous perch.<\/p>\n

I liked the setting, how I had a few of the serviceberry blossoms in focus, the pose of the Green-tailed Towhee, and the great view of its face and eye.<\/p>\n

What I didn’t notice at the time was how the towhee’s tail went through the fork of the branches of the shrub.<\/p>\n

Looking beyond the viewfinder paid off for me because if I hadn’t done just that I would have missed seeing and photographing this Green-tailed Towhee<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Looking beyond the viewfinder paid off for me because if I hadn’t done just that I would have missed seeing and photographing this Green-tailed Towhee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":161833,"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":[27,2212,4594,26,773],"tags":[4004,6523,6098,3940,4142,3905,4069,4104,2303,6698,6188,855,4195,5908,4854,6522],"class_list":["post-58393","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-green-tailed-towhees","category-morgan-county","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-amelanchier-utahensis","tag-blooming","tag-canyon","tag-close-up","tag-green-tailed-towhee","tag-mountains","tag-perched","tag-pipilo-chlorurus","tag-serviceberry","tag-shrub","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-towhee","tag-towhees","tag-utah-serviceberry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-up-close-mia-mcpherson-9121.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fbP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":90856,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/06\/25\/green-tailed-towhee-close-up-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":58393,"position":0},"title":"Green-tailed 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Green-tailed Towhee perched on a Utah Serviceberry, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-flowering-tree-mia-mcpherson-3052.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-flowering-tree-mia-mcpherson-3052.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-flowering-tree-mia-mcpherson-3052.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/green-tailed-towhee-flowering-tree-mia-mcpherson-3052.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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McPherson","date":"May 27, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I was delighted to observe, hear and photograph a beautiful Green-tailed Towhee singing from a treetop two days ago high in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Treetop Green-tailed Towhee singing, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-tree-top-mia-mcpherson-9448.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/green-tailed-towhee-singing-tree-top-mia-mcpherson-9448.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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