{"id":75522,"date":"2020-11-26T06:20:17","date_gmt":"2020-11-26T13:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=75522"},"modified":"2025-05-26T05:38:55","modified_gmt":"2025-05-26T10:38:55","slug":"adult-american-robin-gobbling-down-a-crabapple-thanksgiving-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/26\/adult-american-robin-gobbling-down-a-crabapple-thanksgiving-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult American Robin Gobbling Down A Crabapple &#8211; Thanksgiving 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-147374 size-full\" title=\"American Robin gobbling down a crabapple, Salt Lake County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-adult-eating-snow-mia-mcpherson-6869.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-adult-eating-snow-mia-mcpherson-6869.jpg\" alt=\"American Robin gobbling down a crabapple, Salt Lake 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\/05\/american-robin-adult-eating-snow-mia-mcpherson-6869-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-adult-eating-snow-mia-mcpherson-6869-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-adult-eating-snow-mia-mcpherson-6869-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-adult-eating-snow-mia-mcpherson-6869-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-adult-eating-snow-mia-mcpherson-6869-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-adult-eating-snow-mia-mcpherson-6869.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">American Robin gobbling down a Crabapple \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/4000, ISO 640, +1.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>You might wonder why I decided to use an American Robin photo on my Thanksgiving post today and I will explain how I picked this image.<\/p>\n<p>Thanksgiving <em>is<\/em> a time to be grateful and I am grateful to American Robins because as a little girl it was nesting robins feeding their chicks that propelled me into a lifelong passion for birds. Bird photography came later in life after raising my own young.<\/p>\n<p>Without seeing those robins tending to their young I may not have become so passionate about birds. So even though I have hundreds (upon hundreds) of Wild Turkey images I could have shared here today I wanted to honor the robins that brought me the gift of the love of birds.<\/p>\n<p>This photo also shows the American Robin gobbling down a ripe crabapple that in a way looks like a cranberry. Maybe that is a stretch, maybe it&#8217;s not.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-147377 size-full\" title=\"American Robin with one white tail feather\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-adult-one-white-tail-feather-mia-mcpherson-7215.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-adult-one-white-tail-feather-mia-mcpherson-7215.jpg\" alt=\"American Robin with one white tail feather, Salt Lake 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\/05\/american-robin-adult-one-white-tail-feather-mia-mcpherson-7215-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-adult-one-white-tail-feather-mia-mcpherson-7215-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-adult-one-white-tail-feather-mia-mcpherson-7215-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-adult-one-white-tail-feather-mia-mcpherson-7215-600x429.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-adult-one-white-tail-feather-mia-mcpherson-7215-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-adult-one-white-tail-feather-mia-mcpherson-7215.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">American Robin with one white tail feather \u2013 Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/5000, ISO 640, +1.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>As the year 2020 winds down I feel like this Thanksgiving is unlike any other in the history of this country that we have ever faced. It has been a year of tremendous hardship, turmoil and sacrifice. We&#8217;ve had the pandemic, political and societal unrest, and at times it has felt as if our country was being attacked from within.<\/p>\n<p>Here in Utah March started out shaky because of a large earthquake that had us all ready to run for safety and on edge 24\/7 while in other areas of the country the weather battered us and throughout the west fires scorched the earth. 2020 has been a year that volumes will be written about in history books and that will likely not be forgotten.<\/p>\n<p>When I was looking for the first American Robin photo to share in this Thanksgiving message a photo caught my eye and I saw an anomaly in the tail of another American Robin I had photographed the same day as the first robin that I hadn&#8217;t noticed before.<\/p>\n<p>The robin in the second photo had been dive-bombed by a starling and lifted its tail in response to the attack. How I missed seeing that the robin had one white tail feather is beyond me because I am usually very observant.<\/p>\n<p>I wanted to include the photo of the American Robin with one leucistic tail feather simply because it is an anomaly and I believe that the year 2020 is as well. We&#8217;ll get back on track.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/american-robin-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Robin photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You might wonder why I decided to use an American Robin photo on my Thanksgiving post today and I will explain how I picked this image.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":147374,"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":[456,27,13594,709,26],"tags":[4004,2427,6969,6962,4286,1130,9603,10661,3456,3455,2127,6642,5199,4050,3844,4881,4427,10660,1048,10662,373],"class_list":["post-75522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-robins","category-avian","category-leucistic","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-robin","tag-crabapple","tag-crabapples","tag-eating","tag-food","tag-gobble","tag-gobbling","tag-leucism","tag-leucistic","tag-open-bill","tag-robin","tag-robins","tag-snow","tag-thrush","tag-thrushes","tag-tree","tag-tree-trunk","tag-turdus-migratorius","tag-white-tail-feather","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-adult-eating-snow-mia-mcpherson-6869.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-jE6","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":118714,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/03\/low-light-american-robin\/","url_meta":{"origin":75522,"position":0},"title":"Low Light American Robin","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 3, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"When I photographed this American Robin perched in a crabapple tree last winter the light was low, the sky was cloudy, and there was snow on the ground.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Low light American Robin in a crabapple tree, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/american-robin-adult-high-key-mia-mcpherson-7372.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":63734,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/02\/05\/winter-american-robin-foraging-in-a-crabapple-tree\/","url_meta":{"origin":75522,"position":1},"title":"Winter American Robin Foraging In A Crabapple Tree","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday I was able to focus on this American Robin as it foraged in the branches of a crabapple tree and took a nice, long series of images of the handsome red-breasted thrush.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Robin eating a ripe Crabapple in winter, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-crabapple-tree-mia-mcpherson-7141.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-crabapple-tree-mia-mcpherson-7141.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-crabapple-tree-mia-mcpherson-7141.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-winter-crabapple-tree-mia-mcpherson-7141.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":56237,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/02\/19\/more-american-robins-with-snow\/","url_meta":{"origin":75522,"position":2},"title":"More American Robins With Snow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"On February 16th I woke to fresh snow on the ground and I knew I wanted to see if the American Robins were still feeding in the crabapple trees close to home.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Robin on a bright winter morning, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4609.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4609.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4609.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4609.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":78323,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/01\/25\/winter-american-robins\/","url_meta":{"origin":75522,"position":3},"title":"Winter American Robins","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"There is a skiff of snow on the ground again this morning and it has reminded me that I should look for winter American Robins feeding on crabapples today.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Robin looking for crabapples in snow, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-6863.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-6863.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-6863.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-in-snow-mia-mcpherson-6863.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":61624,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/11\/23\/photographing-urban-birds-american-robins-close-to-home\/","url_meta":{"origin":75522,"position":4},"title":"Photographing Urban Birds: American Robins Close To Home","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 23, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"During the winter when road conditions get bad enough to make me think about my personal safety driving on the interstate and other roads I enjoy being able to photograph urban birds much closer to home.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult American Robin with a crabapple in snow, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-crabapple-mia-mcpherson-1908.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-crabapple-mia-mcpherson-1908.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-crabapple-mia-mcpherson-1908.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-robin-snow-crabapple-mia-mcpherson-1908.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":110111,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/08\/frosty-american-robin-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":75522,"position":5},"title":"Frosty American Robin Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent a little bit of time yesterday taking American Robin photos on frosty grass. The robins were feasting on ripe crabapples that have fallen to the ground.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Robins&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Robins","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/thrushes\/american-robins\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Saucy American Robin in winter, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/american-robin-adult-frost-saucy-mia-mcpherson-2231.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/american-robin-adult-frost-saucy-mia-mcpherson-2231.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/american-robin-adult-frost-saucy-mia-mcpherson-2231.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/american-robin-adult-frost-saucy-mia-mcpherson-2231.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}