{"id":61624,"date":"2019-11-23T05:26:00","date_gmt":"2019-11-23T12:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=61624"},"modified":"2025-05-26T04:12:47","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T09:12:47","slug":"photographing-urban-birds-american-robins-close-to-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/23\/photographing-urban-birds-american-robins-close-to-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Photographing Urban Birds: American Robins Close To Home"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-147313 size-full\" title=\"Adult American Robin with a crabapple in snow, Salt Lake County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-crabapple-mia-mcpherson-1908.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-crabapple-mia-mcpherson-1908.jpg\" alt=\"Adult American Robin with a crabapple in snow, Salt Lake County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20643%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27643%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-crabapple-mia-mcpherson-1908-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-crabapple-mia-mcpherson-1908-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-crabapple-mia-mcpherson-1908-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-crabapple-mia-mcpherson-1908-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-crabapple-mia-mcpherson-1908-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-crabapple-mia-mcpherson-1908.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Adult American Robin with a crabapple in snow \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/2500, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Monday there might be snow on the ground and even though I don&#8217;t like having to scrape that white stuff off of my Jeep I am actually looking forward to photographing birds in the snow, close to home and out in the field. During the winter when road conditions get bad enough to make me think about my personal safety driving on the interstate and other roads I enjoy being able to photograph urban birds much closer to home. After all, birds are everywhere all the time and it doesn&#8217;t matter to me where I photograph them. In my mind and through my lens, birds are birds.<\/p>\n<p>In Utah we have American Robins year round and during the winter I can photograph them in the city within just a few minutes when they are eating frozen crabapples on the ground and in the trees. Those frozen fruits can sustain them even during our coldest weather.<\/p>\n<p>I wish the city would get rid of all the beautiful but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.greenvilleonline.com\/story\/life\/2016\/03\/21\/curse-bradford-pear\/82070210\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">awful Bradford Pear trees<\/span><\/a> they have planted and plant other trees with fruits that the birds actually eat.<\/p>\n<p>If it does snow next week I know that I am going to be looking for some urban birds to photograph.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/american-robin-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Robin photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the winter when road conditions get bad enough to make me think about my personal safety driving on the interstate and other roads I enjoy being able to photograph urban birds much closer to home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":147313,"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":[456,27,709,26],"tags":[4004,2427,6969,4286,8301,8300,6642,5199,4050,1048,8018,373],"class_list":["post-61624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-robins","category-avian","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-robin","tag-crabapple","tag-eating","tag-photograph","tag-photographing","tag-robin","tag-robins","tag-snow","tag-turdus-migratorius","tag-urban","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-crabapple-mia-mcpherson-1908.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-g1W","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":56237,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/02\/19\/more-american-robins-with-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":61624,"position":0},"title":"More American Robins With Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"On February 16th I woke to fresh snow on the ground and I knew I wanted to see if the American Robins were still feeding in the crabapple trees close to home.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Robin on a bright winter morning, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4609.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4609.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4609.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4609.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101389,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/05\/spring-american-robin-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":61624,"position":1},"title":"Spring American Robin Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I spent a few minutes taking American Robin photos as they foraged for crabapples at an urban park close to home in Salt Lake City.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring American Robin adult, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/american-robin-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2264.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/american-robin-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2264.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/american-robin-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2264.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/american-robin-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2264.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56110,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/02\/13\/an-abundance-of-foraging-american-robins\/","url_meta":{"origin":61624,"position":2},"title":"An Abundance Of Foraging American Robins","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 13, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Two afternoons ago when I left the local pond to head home I saw at least 75-100 foraging American Robins in some crabapple trees and on the ground in the snow.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Snowy American Robin swallowing a crabapple whole, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-snow-fruit-mia-mcpherson-2915.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-snow-fruit-mia-mcpherson-2915.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-snow-fruit-mia-mcpherson-2915.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-snow-fruit-mia-mcpherson-2915.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":78323,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/01\/25\/winter-american-robins\/","url_meta":{"origin":61624,"position":3},"title":"Winter American Robins","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"There is a skiff of snow on the ground again this morning and it has reminded me that I should look for winter American Robins feeding on crabapples today.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Robin looking for crabapples in snow, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-6863.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-6863.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-6863.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-6863.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110111,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/08\/frosty-american-robin-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":61624,"position":4},"title":"Frosty American Robin Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent a little bit of time yesterday taking American Robin photos on frosty grass. The robins were feasting on ripe crabapples that have fallen to the ground.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Saucy American Robin in winter, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/american-robin-adult-frost-saucy-mia-mcpherson-2231.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/american-robin-adult-frost-saucy-mia-mcpherson-2231.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/american-robin-adult-frost-saucy-mia-mcpherson-2231.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/american-robin-adult-frost-saucy-mia-mcpherson-2231.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":118714,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/03\/low-light-american-robin\/","url_meta":{"origin":61624,"position":5},"title":"Low Light American Robin","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"When I photographed this American Robin perched in a crabapple tree last winter the light was low, the sky was cloudy, and there was snow on the ground.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Low light American Robin in a crabapple tree, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372.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\/61624","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=61624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}