{"id":73282,"date":"2020-08-29T06:02:02","date_gmt":"2020-08-29T12:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=73282"},"modified":"2026-05-22T09:47:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T14:47:44","slug":"the-funniest-yellow-warbler-photo-i-have-ever-taken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/08\/29\/the-funniest-yellow-warbler-photo-i-have-ever-taken\/","title":{"rendered":"The Funniest Northern Yellow Warbler Photo I Have Ever Taken"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NorthernNorthern Yellow Warbler with a moth in its bill \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Two days ago near a creek in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a> I took the funniest Northern Yellow Warbler photo I have ever taken in all the years that I have been photographing birds.<\/p>\n

I was photographing the Northern Yellow Warbler while it foraged in a River Hawthorn not far from the bank of a creek when it dropped down through the branches, leaves and berries as if it were a rock.<\/p>\n

I quickly tried to spot the warbler again through my viewfinder and when I found it perched on a branch near ground level I started laughing out loud almost immediately because the Northern Yellow Warbler appeared to have a small moth plastered on its face.<\/p>\n

I laughed so hard that the images following this one were not quite as sharp due to operator camera shake. I should have waited to laugh until I was finished photographing this Northern Yellow Warbler but I couldn’t help myself.<\/p>\n

I’m happy I got this one sharp image though and it was actually the best in the series because after this photo was taken the warbler turned its head and then its body on the small branch so that it was looking more away from me than towards me.<\/p>\n

I don’t know if the warbler found the moth in the hawthorn or if it saw it down below where it was perched and dove to get it because the action happened that fast.<\/p>\n

What I do know is that seeing the moth stuck in the warbler’s bill with its wings fully spread gave me a laughing session I really needed that morning.<\/p>\n

Anyone walking or driving by would have thought that the woman in the silver Jeep laughing loudly next to a creek with a long lens sticking out of the window in the high Wasatch Mountains had lost her mind.<\/p>\n

Perhaps as a photographer I did for a few moments because I know without a doubt that movement while photographing can ruin images.<\/p>\n

And to add to the humor the scientific name for Northern Yellow Warblers is Setophaga aestiva, <\/i>setophaga is Greek and it means “moth-eater” and I think this photo captures the essence for the first part of the scientific name in a humorous and educational way.<\/p>\n

Just in case you were wondering the moth was quickly consumed.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/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

P.S., I haven’t identified the species of the poor moth yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two days ago near a creek in the Wasatch Mountains I took the funniest Northern Yellow Warbler photo I have ever taken in all the years that I have been photographing birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":161550,"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":[27,5921,4594,2281,26,773],"tags":[5552,6577,10376,3940,7754,10377,4157,90,10374,9592,3909,10375,4069,3887,4104,7297,2282,3888,3889,6492],"class_list":["post-73282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-east-canyon","category-morgan-county","category-yellow-warblers","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-bill","tag-branches","tag-camera-shake","tag-canyon","tag-foraged","tag-funniest","tag-funny","tag-humor-2","tag-immature-female","tag-laughing","tag-moth","tag-moth-eater","tag-mountains","tag-yellow-warbler","tag-perched","tag-river-hawthorn","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-moth-on-bill-mia-mcpherson-7744.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-j3Y","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":73282,"position":0},"title":"Photographing Two Northern Yellow Warbler Nests","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I found not one but two Northern Yellow Warbler nests high in the Wasatch Mountains because I paid attention to the movements of two female warblers.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Northern 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, 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2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I photographed a juvenile Northern Yellow Warbler in the patchy mix of yellow and gray feathers that they only sport for a short time after fledging.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Northern Yellow Warbler chick in patchy juvenal plumage, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/yellow-warbler-juvenile-perched-mia-mcpherson-4396.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-juvenile-perched-mia-mcpherson-4396.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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