{"id":70979,"date":"2020-06-20T05:33:42","date_gmt":"2020-06-20T11:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=70979"},"modified":"2025-10-24T10:19:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T15:19:02","slug":"female-yellow-warbler-foraging-in-sage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/06\/20\/female-yellow-warbler-foraging-in-sage\/","title":{"rendered":"Female Yellow Warbler Foraging In Sage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FemaleFemale Yellow Warbler perched in sage \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t see Yellow Warblers foraging in sage very often so I was thrilled to photograph an adult female as she poked around a clump of sagebrush in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a> yesterday. I noticed a small warbler fly into the the sage and stopped to identify the species and then saw her moving around in the fragrant leaves searching for prey.<\/p>\n

I know that some Yellow Warbler chicks here in northern Utah have hatched already because at other locations I’ve seen both males and females bringing in food to a few nests and in those locations I can hear the weak, thready calls of nestlings.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Yellow Warbler with an open bill \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Although sage isn’t a bush I normally see Yellow Warblers foraging in the location of this clump of sage is probably within 50 yards of habitat I do expect to find them in because down the slope behind the sage it very quickly becomes riparian habitat since there is a creek that meanders through the canyon.<\/p>\n

What I can’t be sure of is whether the female Yellow Warbler was foraging for herself or for chicks she might have had nearby.<\/p>\n

In this photo the female warbler has her bill open and just above the sagebrush leaf behind her bill her tongue is visible.<\/p>\n

\"YellowYellow Warbler female foraging in sage \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The female Yellow Warbler moved very quickly in the sage. I felt lucky when I was able to lock focus and take a few photos of her out in the open before she moved to another part of the bush.<\/p>\n

Not long after these photos were taken she flew to another area of the hillside where I lost sight of her. She wasn’t the only bright spot of my time in the mountains because it was pretty birdy up there yesterday morning.<\/p>\n

Happy Summer Solstice!<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I don’t see Yellow Warblers foraging in sage very often so I was thrilled to photograph an adult female as she poked around a clump of sagebrush in the Wasatch Mountains yesterday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":161519,"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":[27,2281,1731,26,773],"tags":[4004,2519,11480,3940,4070,4136,683,4069,2817,4057,2282,3888,3889,6492,3887],"class_list":["post-70979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-yellow-warblers","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-artemisia-tridentata","tag-big-sagebrush","tag-canyon","tag-female","tag-foraging","tag-habitat-2","tag-mountains","tag-sage","tag-sagebrush","tag-setophaga-aestiva","tag-warbler","tag-warblers","tag-wood-warblers","tag-yellow-warbler"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-female-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-0848.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-isP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":73343,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/09\/01\/yellow-warbler-and-a-hawthorn\/","url_meta":{"origin":70979,"position":0},"title":"Yellow Warbler And A Hawthorn","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"These bright Yellow Warblers are getting ready for their long, fall migrations and while I am happy to see that they seem to have had a successful breeding season it also felt a touch bittersweet to me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow Warbler perched in front of a hawthorn, Wasatch Mountains, East Canyon, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-warbler-river-hawthorn-mia-mcpherson-7627.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/yellow-warbler-river-hawthorn-mia-mcpherson-7627.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"May 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I was delighted to be able to photograph the female Yellow Warbler as she fed her young and to watch the fledgling as it fluttered its wings and gulped down the food the female brought it.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Yellow Warbler feeding her young, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-female-feeding-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-9679.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-female-feeding-fledgling-mia-mcpherson-9679.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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