{"id":61086,"date":"2019-10-30T05:25:27","date_gmt":"2019-10-30T11:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=61086"},"modified":"2022-03-15T17:13:13","modified_gmt":"2022-03-15T23:13:13","slug":"male-great-tailed-grackle-portraits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/10\/30\/male-great-tailed-grackle-portraits\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Great-tailed Grackle Portraits"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale Great-tailed Grackle portrait with sky in the background – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t often get to have Great-tailed Grackles in my viewfinder let alone have them close enough to take portraits of them so when the opportunity presents itself, I jump at the chance.<\/p>\n

Two days ago while looking for birds to photograph at a local pond I spotted this male Great-tailed Grackle perched on a sign so close that I opted to take portraits of it. At first I had sky in the background.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Great-tailed Grackle portrait with grass in the background – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/500, ISO 500, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Then the Great-tailed Grackle flew down to the ground and I had grass behind the bird. When the grackle moved away I was hoping to get photos of it perched in some nearby rushes but the bird hid itself from my view. I was happy with the portraits I took of him.<\/p>\n

The Great-tailed Grackle range map at allaboutbirds.org<\/span><\/a> really should be updated because it does not show this species in this state. (The range map has been updated as of March 2022) I’ve been in Utah since 2009 and I saw Great-tailed Grackles at Farmington Bay WMA before I moved from Florida to Utah. I’ve also seen Great-tailed Grackles in Idaho and Montana.<\/p>\n

Here in Utah I see this species most often in parking lots at fast food places or in city parks.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I don’t often get to have Great-tailed Grackles in my viewfinder let alone have them close enough to take portraits of them so when the opportunity presents itself, I jump at the chance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":100791,"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":[27,426,709,26],"tags":[4004,970,4142,4620,4779,4780,3747,2429,4062,10698,4046,4778,4018],"class_list":["post-61086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-great-tailed-grackles","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-close-up","tag-fall","tag-grackle","tag-grackles","tag-grass","tag-great-tailed-grackle","tag-male","tag-park","tag-portrait","tag-quiscalus-mexicanus","tag-sky"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-male-close-up-in-grass-mia-mcpherson-5124.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fTg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55054,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/20\/female-great-tailed-grackle-portrait-in-afternoon-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":61086,"position":0},"title":"Female Great-tailed Grackle Portrait In Afternoon Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 20, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This female Great-tailed Grackle was the first bird I photographed yesterday and she was so close to me that I opted to take portraits of her in the nice afternoon light at my local pond.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Great-tailed Grackle portrait, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-female-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0801.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-female-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0801.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boat-tailed-grackle-male-mia-mcpherson-7130.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boat-tailed-grackle-male-mia-mcpherson-7130.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boat-tailed-grackle-male-mia-mcpherson-7130.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101491,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/09\/spring-male-great-tailed-grackle-portraits\/","url_meta":{"origin":61086,"position":2},"title":"Spring Male Great-tailed Grackle Portraits","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I had fun taking spring male Great-tailed Grackle portraits because these males were displaying and not paying attention to me or my camera.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Great-tailed Grackle calling portrait, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/great-tailed-grackle-adult-male-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5934.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/great-tailed-grackle-adult-male-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5934.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/great-tailed-grackle-adult-male-portrait-mia-mcpherson-5934.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"December 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm glad I had a few seconds to photograph this Great-tailed Grackle up close in the warm afternoon light before it was flushed and flew away.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great-tailed Grackle close up, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-close-up-afternoon-mia-mcpherson-6043.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-close-up-afternoon-mia-mcpherson-6043.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-close-up-afternoon-mia-mcpherson-6043.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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