{"id":71436,"date":"2020-07-01T05:45:05","date_gmt":"2020-07-01T11:45:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=71436"},"modified":"2025-10-24T10:23:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T15:23:19","slug":"yellow-warbler-female-with-food-for-her-chicks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/07\/01\/yellow-warbler-female-with-food-for-her-chicks\/","title":{"rendered":"Yellow Warbler Female With Food For Her Chicks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-161522 size-full\" title=\"Female Yellow Warbler with prey for her chicks, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-7153.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-7153.jpg\" alt=\"Female Yellow Warbler with prey for her chicks, Wasatch Mountains, Summit 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\/10\/yellow-warbler-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-7153-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-7153-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-7153-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-7153-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-7153-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-female-prey-mia-mcpherson-7153.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Female Yellow Warbler with prey for her chicks \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The last time I was up in the Wasatch Mountains photographing birds I took a ton of Belted Kingfisher images and I still haven&#8217;t gone through all of those files but I have taken a look at the other birds I photographed. Among those photos I found a few that I wanted to share and tell the stories behind them.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the Yellow Warbler chicks in the Wasatch Mountains have already hatched and a few have left their nests. I photographed one of those chicks but the lighting was awful because the young warbler was in the deep shadows of some willows but there was bright light behind it.<\/p>\n<p>Then the chick dropped down into the high grasses and disappeared from my view. I could tell later on that it had made its way through the grasses and into another stand of willows because its parents were busy bringing it food and I could hear its soft but insistent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xeno-canto.org\/423692\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">begging calls<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The male seemed to bring the young chick food more often than the female but he usually flew in low and was always partially hidden by the branches, trunks and leaves of the willow.<\/p>\n<p>The female Yellow Warbler often flew in, landed out in the open and then dove down to deliver the prey she had gathered to her chick that was hidden in the willows.<\/p>\n<p>On other food delivery trips I could tell that the adults went to the nest to feed the chicks that were still in it.<\/p>\n<p>The stand of willows appears to have hosted at least two Yellow Warbler nests this spring.\u00a0 One nest is lower in the willows and is situated on the south side and one nest is higher up and on the north side of the of the willows.<\/p>\n<p>I know this because I have watched the adults flying in and out of the willows and there have been times I have seen both male warblers flying in simultaneously and have had visual contact with both females at the same time too.<\/p>\n<p>The Yellow Warbler female in this photo was bringing in food for her chicks that were in the nest on the lower south side of the willows.<\/p>\n<p>I hope that the young Yellow Warblers made it through the cold snap we had here in northern Utah recently.<\/p>\n<p>Life is good. Stay safe.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/yellow-warbler-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Yellow Warbler photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The female Yellow Warbler often flew in, landed out in the open and then dove down to deliver the prey she had gathered to her chick that was hidden in the willows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":161522,"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_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,2281,1731,26,773],"tags":[4004,6577,4073,3940,4068,4070,1130,4136,4069,4450,4106,2282,4427,3888,3889,6107,6492,3887],"class_list":["post-71436","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-branches","tag-breeding-season","tag-canyon","tag-chicks","tag-female","tag-food","tag-foraging","tag-mountains","tag-nesting-season","tag-prey","tag-setophaga-aestiva","tag-tree","tag-warbler","tag-warblers","tag-willow","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-prey-mia-mcpherson-7153.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-iAc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":102595,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/05\/23\/photographing-two-yellow-warbler-nests\/","url_meta":{"origin":71436,"position":0},"title":"Photographing Two Yellow Warbler Nests","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I found not one but two Yellow Warbler nests high in the Wasatch Mountains because I paid attention to the movements of two female warblers.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Yellow Warbler in nest with nesting materials, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/yellow-warbler-adult-female-in-nest-mia-mcpherson-6973.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-in-nest-mia-mcpherson-6973.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/yellow-warbler-adult-female-in-nest-mia-mcpherson-6973.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/yellow-warbler-adult-female-in-nest-mia-mcpherson-6973.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":71436,"position":1},"title":"Adult MacGillivray&#8217;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 &quot;Birds&quot;","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":70979,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/06\/20\/female-yellow-warbler-foraging-in-sage\/","url_meta":{"origin":71436,"position":2},"title":"Female Yellow Warbler Foraging In Sage","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow Warbler female foraging in sage, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-female-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-0848.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-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-0848.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-female-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-0848.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-female-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-0848.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":104377,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/19\/female-and-male-yellow-warbler-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":71436,"position":3},"title":"Female And Male Yellow Warbler Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Two mornings ago I spent a few moments taking female and male Yellow Warbler images that were in a willow thicket next to a creek high in the mountains.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Yellow Warbler with food 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":72562,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/08\/09\/yellow-warbler-among-ripe-serviceberries\/","url_meta":{"origin":71436,"position":4},"title":"Yellow Warbler Among Ripe Serviceberries","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Several Yellow Warblers flew into the serviceberry and in this photo I can see that this female has been feeding on the ripe berries because her lower mandible has a juicy residue on it.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow Warbler and ripe serviceberries, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-ripe-serviceberries-mia-mcpherson-7365.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-ripe-serviceberries-mia-mcpherson-7365.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-ripe-serviceberries-mia-mcpherson-7365.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-warbler-ripe-serviceberries-mia-mcpherson-7365.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":71788,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/07\/10\/yellow-warbler-fledglings-everywhere\/","url_meta":{"origin":71436,"position":5},"title":"Yellow Warbler Fledglings Everywhere","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"There were several Yellow Warbler fledglings in this shrub and the adults were running themselves ragged trying to keep them all fed.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow Warbler fledgling in a Blue Elderberry bush, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/yellow-warbler-chick-elderberry-mia-mcpherson-9495.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/yellow-warbler-chick-elderberry-mia-mcpherson-9495.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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