{"id":70653,"date":"2020-06-07T06:55:35","date_gmt":"2020-06-07T12:55:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=70653"},"modified":"2025-10-17T06:08:59","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T11:08:59","slug":"macgillivrays-warblers-in-the-wasatch-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/06\/07\/macgillivrays-warblers-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"MacGillivray’s Warblers In The Wasatch Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult male MacGillivray’s Warbler in a serviceberry bush – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The very first warbler I ever photographed in Utah was a male MacGillivray’s Warbler near Silver Lake in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a> in July of 2008 and that was before I moved here in 2009. Since that time I have continued to struggle to get the photos of this species that I hope for and dream about.<\/p>\n

These medium sized warblers are shy, skulky, and they blend into their habitat easily. More on that later though.<\/p>\n

The last three times I have gone up into the Wasatch Mountains I’ve found, observed, and photographed some nesting MacGillivray’s Warblers. It hasn’t been easy to take photos of them, not at all. Finding the birds and pointing them out wasn’t easy either.<\/p>\n

On June 2nd I had my first opportunity to photograph the male when he flew into a serviceberry shrub. He was partially hidden from view and when he moved higher up the shrub where he might have come out into the open for a clear shot a Song Sparrow came in and chased him off.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale MacGillivray’s Warbler perched in a Golden Currant – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/320, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

On the 4th of June I had more opportunities to photograph MacGillivray’s Warblers, a nesting pair and from what I saw there were two others in the area. I took some long distance images of the male and female MacGillivray’s going in and out of their presumed nesting location.<\/p>\n

Once in a while the male MacGillivray’s would start to move up in a bush or shrub and I’d get my hopes up that it would come out into the open and sing<\/span><\/a> and that I’d be able to take some of those photos I’ve been hoping for.<\/p>\n

\"DefensiveDefensive nesting Song Sparrow – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

But a defensive Song Sparrow would consistently chase the male MacGillivray’s away before he could pop up on top of the bushes or shrubs. Almost every time.<\/p>\n

This is a photo I took right after the Song Sparrow chased the male MacGillivray’s Warbler from this nice fairly open perch.<\/p>\n

Because the Song Sparrow kept acting defensive I watched it and its possible mate while waiting for the MacGillivray’s Warblers to show back up and thanks to the defensive interactions between the warblers and the sparrows I know exactly where those Song Sparrows are nesting too. So I can head into the mountains now and get photos of both species near their nests.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale MacGillivray’s Warbler perched out in the open – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Song Sparrow must have been busy once though on the 4th because when the male warbler popped up into the open I was able to take a nice series of images of him without the sparrow chasing it away.<\/p>\n

\"DefensiveDefensive male MacGillivray’s Warbler – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Two days ago I tried to get photos of the nesting MacGillivray’s Warblers out in the open again. This image shows the male out in the open but he never turned his head more towards me than this photo shows. He was focused on a Song Sparrow that was deeper in the shrub. He looks a little ferocious with his bill open like that.<\/p>\n

The Song Sparrow or sparrows were still actively chasing the warblers all over the place two days ago. I can’t blame the sparrows because after all they are feeling the need to nest and raise young as strongly as the warblers are.<\/p>\n

\"WhyWhy MacGillivray’s Warblers can be hard to see – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The last photo I wanted to share today is an example of how easily the MacGillivray’s Warblers can blend into their habitat. In this fairly clear and close view of the male the shadows from the leaves of the shrub combined with the bird’s feather colors and plumage patterns work as an excellent camouflage.<\/p>\n

If a person isn’t paying attention they might not even see these warblers when they are perched in trees, shrubs, or bushes. Especially if they have their eyes glued to their phone.<\/p>\n

Despite the difficulties I have finding and photographing MacGillivray’s Warblers I will keep trying to take better images of them. Photos of them are worth the struggle.<\/p>\n

Only one or two of these MacGillivray’s Warbler photos will make it into my photo galleries. But I wanted to share all of these plus one of the Song Sparrows who kept chasing my target birds away.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my MacGillivray\u2019s Warbler photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Despite the difficulties I have finding and photographing MacGillivray’s Warblers I will keep trying to take better images of them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":70650,"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":[27,7345,4594,204,26,773],"tags":[4004,6523,4073,3940,822,7346,7253,7347,4062,4202,4069,4450,4104,7252,6698,4023,855,4195,6522,3888,3889,6492],"class_list":["post-70653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-macgillivrays-warblers","category-morgan-county","category-song-sparrows","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-amelanchier-utahensis","tag-breeding-season","tag-canyon","tag-defensive","tag-geothlypis-tolmiei","tag-golden-currant","tag-macgillivrays-warbler","tag-male","tag-melospiza-melodia","tag-mountains","tag-nesting-season","tag-perched","tag-ribes-aureum","tag-serviceberry","tag-song-sparrow","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-utah-serviceberry","tag-warbler","tag-warblers","tag-wood-warblers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/macgillivrays-warbler-male-grasses-mia-mcpherson-8888.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-inz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":102894,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/06\/05\/yellow-and-macgillivrays-warbler-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":70653,"position":0},"title":"Yellow And MacGillivray’s Warbler Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Three days ago when I wasn't photographing a Broad-tailed Hummingbird I took male Yellow and MacGillivray's Warbler photos as they chased each other around.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male MacGillivray's Warbler and serviceberry blossoms, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/macgillivrays-warbler-male-serviceberry-in-bloom-mia-mcpherson-5947.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/macgillivrays-warbler-male-serviceberry-in-bloom-mia-mcpherson-5947.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/macgillivrays-warbler-male-serviceberry-in-bloom-mia-mcpherson-5947.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/macgillivrays-warbler-male-serviceberry-in-bloom-mia-mcpherson-5947.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":69440,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/05\/04\/female-macgillivrays-warbler-perched-in-a-blooming-serviceberry\/","url_meta":{"origin":70653,"position":1},"title":"Female MacGillivray\u2019s Warbler Perched In A Blooming Serviceberry","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This female MacGillivray\u2019s Warbler popped into view briefly two years ago high in the Wasatch Mountains and even though she never came out into the open I enjoyed how she was surrounded by the white blooms of a Utah Serviceberry.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"MacGillivray\u2019s Warbler perched in a blooming Serviceberry, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/macgillivrays-warbler-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-3030.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/macgillivrays-warbler-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-3030.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/macgillivrays-warbler-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-3030.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/macgillivrays-warbler-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-3030.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":72457,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/08\/05\/immature-macgillivrays-warbler-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":70653,"position":2},"title":"Immature MacGillivray’s Warbler Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the birds I had in my viewfinder for a few moments yesterday morning was an immature MacGillivray's Warbler where it perched on the branches of a serviceberry at the edge of a dusty, gravel road.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature MacGillivray's Warbler and ripe serviceberries, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/macgillivrays-warbler-immature-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-7347.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/macgillivrays-warbler-immature-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-7347.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/macgillivrays-warbler-immature-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-7347.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/macgillivrays-warbler-immature-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-7347.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":58951,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/07\/12\/macgillivrays-warbler-in-a-serviceberry\/","url_meta":{"origin":70653,"position":3},"title":"MacGillivray’s Warbler In A Serviceberry","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 12, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"This MacGillivray's Warbler was foraging at the base of a serviceberry when I photographed it facing me and until I took photos of it I hadn't realized how big their eyes are for a warbler.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"MacGillivray\u2019s Warbler head on view, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/macgillivrays-warbler-serviceberry-head-on-mia-mcpherson-7651.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/macgillivrays-warbler-serviceberry-head-on-mia-mcpherson-7651.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/macgillivrays-warbler-serviceberry-head-on-mia-mcpherson-7651.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/macgillivrays-warbler-serviceberry-head-on-mia-mcpherson-7651.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":71453,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/07\/02\/adult-macgillivrays-warblers-with-food-for-their-chicks\/","url_meta":{"origin":70653,"position":4},"title":"Adult MacGillivray’s Warblers With Food For Their Chicks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"My best opportunities photographing the adult MacGillivray's Warblers with food for their young yesterday happened when the female popped into view with prey in her bill.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female MacGillivray's Warbler with food for her chicks, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/macgillivrays-warbler-female-with-food-mia-mcpherson-3425.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/macgillivrays-warbler-female-with-food-mia-mcpherson-3425.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/macgillivrays-warbler-female-with-food-mia-mcpherson-3425.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/macgillivrays-warbler-female-with-food-mia-mcpherson-3425.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":58695,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/06\/21\/male-macgillivrays-warbler-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":70653,"position":5},"title":"Male MacGillivray\u2019s Warbler In The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The first warbler species I ever photographed in Utah actually was a MacGillivray's Warbler at Silver Lake in Brighton on July 25, 2008 which was taken on my first bird photography trip to Utah prior to moving here from Florida.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Alert male MacGillivray's Warbler, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/macgillivray-warbler-male-perched-mia-mcpherson-5162.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/macgillivray-warbler-male-perched-mia-mcpherson-5162.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/macgillivray-warbler-male-perched-mia-mcpherson-5162.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/macgillivray-warbler-male-perched-mia-mcpherson-5162.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\/70653","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=70653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}