{"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":"2025-10-24T11:06:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T16:06:54","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 Yellow Warbler Photo I Have Ever Taken"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"YellowYellow 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 Yellow Warbler photo I have ever taken in all the years that I have been photographing birds.<\/p>\n

I was photographing the 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 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 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. 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 Yellow Warblers is Setophaga petechia, <\/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 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 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_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":[27,5921,4594,2281,26,773],"tags":[5552,6577,10376,3940,7754,10377,4157,90,10374,9592,3909,10375,4069,4104,7297,2282,3888,3889,6492,3887],"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-perched","tag-river-hawthorn","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-moth-on-bill-mia-mcpherson-7744.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-j3Y","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":73282,"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":"September 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Three years ago today, I was up in the Wasatch Mountains, focused on a bright Yellow Warbler snugly nestled in a hawthorn tree on a hillside.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Late summer Yellow Warbler in the Wasatch Mountains, East Canyon, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/yellow-warbler-immature-golden-mia-mcpherson-9871.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/yellow-warbler-immature-golden-mia-mcpherson-9871.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/yellow-warbler-immature-golden-mia-mcpherson-9871.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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Yellow-rumped Warblers In The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 28, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Three days ago I photographed Yellow-rumped Warblers in the Wasatch Mountains, these warblers are a challenge because they move so quickly but they are always fun to have in my viewfinder.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Back view of a male Yellow-rumped Warbler's yellow rump, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/yellow-rumped-warbler-male-rump-mia-mcpherson-2289.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-rumped-warbler-male-rump-mia-mcpherson-2289.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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