{"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":"2026-05-22T09:33:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T14:33:12","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 Northern Yellow Warbler Foraging In Sage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FemaleFemale Northern 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 Northern 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 Northern 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 Northern 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 Northern 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 Northern 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

\"NorthernNorthern Yellow 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 Northern 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 Northern Yellow Warbler photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don’t see Northern 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_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,2281,1731,26,773],"tags":[4004,2519,11480,3940,4070,4136,683,4069,3887,2817,4057,2282,3888,3889,6492],"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-yellow-warbler","tag-sage","tag-sagebrush","tag-setophaga-aestiva","tag-warbler","tag-warblers","tag-wood-warblers"],"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":102236,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/05\/09\/spring-yellow-warbler-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":70979,"position":0},"title":"Spring Northern Yellow Warbler Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 9, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I had a bit of fun taking female and male Northern Yellow Warbler photos yesterday in the high country of the Wasatch Mountain Range on a bright sunny morning.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult female Northern Yellow Warbler perched in a willow in spring, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/yellow-warbler-adult-female-willow-mia-mcpherson-1310.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/yellow-warbler-adult-female-willow-mia-mcpherson-1310.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-fledgling-begging-mia-mcpherson-0952.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-fledgling-begging-mia-mcpherson-0952.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-fledgling-begging-mia-mcpherson-0952.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-fledgling-begging-mia-mcpherson-0952.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52151,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/05\/18\/male-yellow-warblers-in-the-wasatch-mountains-sunshine-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":70979,"position":3},"title":"Male Northern Yellow Warblers in the Wasatch Mountains – Sunshine On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning was spent up in the mountain canyons again photographing the birds I found at the higher elevations, the birds I saw the most of were Northern Yellow Warblers, birds who look like sunshine on the wing.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Foraging male Northern Yellow Warbler, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-foraging-mia-mcpherson-0939.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-foraging-mia-mcpherson-0939.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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for her young, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/yellow-warbler-adult-female-bugs-mia-mcpherson-5763.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/yellow-warbler-adult-female-bugs-mia-mcpherson-5763.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/yellow-warbler-adult-female-bugs-mia-mcpherson-5763.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/yellow-warbler-adult-female-bugs-mia-mcpherson-5763.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":73343,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/09\/01\/yellow-warbler-and-a-hawthorn\/","url_meta":{"origin":70979,"position":5},"title":"Northern Yellow Warbler And A Hawthorn","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"These bright Northern 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":"Northern 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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