{"id":75758,"date":"2020-12-05T06:13:18","date_gmt":"2020-12-05T13:13:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=75758"},"modified":"2026-01-11T06:50:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T12:50:35","slug":"finding-two-uncommon-birds-in-one-week-rusty-blackbird-and-common-grackle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/12\/05\/finding-two-uncommon-birds-in-one-week-rusty-blackbird-and-common-grackle\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Two Uncommon Birds In One Week – Rusty Blackbird And Common Grackle"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ShakingShaking male Common Grackle \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 1000, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I’ve mentioned here that I am always looking for birds and yesterday I found out that even when I am on birds I am looking for birds.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week I spotted a black bird preening in a Russian Olive tree next to Glover Pond at Farmington Bay WMA and as soon as I was able to get my lens on it I knew that I had found an uncommon Common Grackle. I’ve seen and photographed this species in Florida but had never seen one here in Utah.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult male Common Grackle at Glover Pond \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 1000, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I had trouble getting sharp photos of the Common Grackle but these images are good enough for identification and documentation purposes.<\/p>\n

Even though Common Grackles aren\u2019t considered \u201crare\u201d enough to submit to the Utah Birds Record Committee, my sighting of this species still got me excited. On top of that, I identified and pointed the grackle out to another person, and they got a lifer bird from it.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult male Rusty Blackbird at Glover Pond \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Not long after I first moved to Utah a reported sighting of a Rusty Blackbird near Glover Pond at Farmington Bay WMA got me excited and every fall and winter when flocks of blackbirds gather near the pond and the nearby farmer’s fields I have been looking through those flocks for a Rusty Blackbird. It never mattered to me whether it was a male or a female, I just wanted to see a Rusty Blackbird.<\/p>\n

Here is a Rusty Blackbird range map<\/span><\/a>, on it you can see Utah is out of range for this species.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult male Rusty Blackbird in nonbreeding plumage \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning I was photographing three Hooded Mergansers at Glover Pond near the same olive tree where I had found the Common Grackle on Monday when a mixed flock of blackbirds flew in. There were Brewer’s and Red-winged Blackbirds with a few Brown-headed Cowbirds and then one bird caught my eye because of its rusty tipped feathers. I took 31 images of the bird before it flew away.<\/p>\n

\"BackBack view of an adult male Rusty Blackbird in nonbreeding plumage \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

After eleven falls and winters I finally found my Rusty Blackbird! And it was a lifer!<\/p>\n

Rusty Blackbirds aren’t considered rare here in Utah but they definitely are uncommon. Actually they are uncommon in their normal range now because this species is in serious decline, their populations have dropped 85% to 98% in the past 40 years. This Rusty Blackbird is an adult male in nonbreeding plumage. By the end of this winter those rusty tips on his feathers will have worn off and he will be black overall with a dull sheen.<\/p>\n

Finding two uncommon birds this week at the same olive tree really has me buzzed and to finally see a Rusty Blackbird has made me feel like jumping over the moon.<\/p>\n

Paying attention and knowing my birds paid off nicely this week, again, and not just for me but for the person that I pointed a lifer bird out to.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

My thanks go out to friend, bird guide, and fellow bird photographer Mark Stackhouse<\/span><\/a> for confirming my Rusty Blackbird ID. Giving credit where credit is due is important. I wasn’t 100% confident in my ID because I had zero experience with this species until yesterday.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see my Rusty Blackbird photo gallery plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Finding two uncommon birds this week at the same olive tree really has me buzzed and to finally see a Rusty Blackbird has made me feel like jumping over the moon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":114459,"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":[27,10695,1022,10688,26],"tags":[4004,3813,3483,10697,10689,715,4779,4780,4062,4246,4104,1984,10696,1902,5577,10690,5404,6420,10580,3996,373],"class_list":["post-75758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-common-grackles","category-davis-county-utah","category-rusty-blackbirds","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-common-grackle","tag-euphagus-carolinus","tag-glover-pond","tag-grackle","tag-grackles","tag-male","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-perched","tag-pond","tag-quiscalus-quiscula","tag-rare","tag-russian-olive","tag-rusty-blackbird","tag-sighting","tag-uncommon","tag-uncommon-at-location","tag-water","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/rusty-blackbird-mia-mcpherson-8554.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-jHU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":118631,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/30\/my-uncommon-common-grackle-sighting-anniversary\/","url_meta":{"origin":75758,"position":0},"title":"My Uncommon Common Grackle Sighting Anniversary","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is the third anniversary of my uncommon Common Grackle sighting in Utah. I found the grackle perched in a Russian Olive tree next to Glover Pond.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Common Grackle with its bill open, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/common-grackle-adult-glover-pond-mia-mcpheeron-6915.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/common-grackle-adult-glover-pond-mia-mcpheeron-6915.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/common-grackle-adult-glover-pond-mia-mcpheeron-6915.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/common-grackle-adult-glover-pond-mia-mcpheeron-6915.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8027,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/04\/04\/male-boat-tailed-grackle-portrait\/","url_meta":{"origin":75758,"position":1},"title":"Male Boat-tailed Grackle portrait","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Male Boat-tailed Grackles have velvety black feathers that glow in the right light with iridescence purples, blues, teals and greens.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Boat-tailed Grackle male at the Celery Fields in Sarasota County, Florida","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boat-tailed-grackle-male-mia-mcpherson-7130.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boat-tailed-grackle-male-mia-mcpherson-7130.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/boat-tailed-grackle-male-mia-mcpherson-7130.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1800,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/01\/30\/bye-bye-blackbirds\/","url_meta":{"origin":75758,"position":2},"title":"Bye Bye Blackbirds? The USDA Is Killing Birds With DRC-1339","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently the USDA accepted responsibility for a smaller die off in South Dakota which brought to light a little known program called \"Bye bye Blackbird\" which uses DRC-1339, a poison that is also called an avicide.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Brewer's Blackbird displaying","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/brewers-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherson-3418.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/brewers-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherson-3418.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/brewers-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherson-3418.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/brewers-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherson-3418.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52241,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/05\/24\/male-great-tailed-grackle-in-low-light-plus-battery-issues\/","url_meta":{"origin":75758,"position":3},"title":"Male Great-tailed Grackle in Low Light Plus Battery Issues","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Even though the light yesterday morning wasn't optimal for bird photography I took my Mom to the Farmington Bay WMA area to show her around there, we only made it as far as Glover Pond though.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Great-tailed Grackle in low light horizontal crop, thumbnail, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-male-mia-mcpherson-thumbnail-1603.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-male-mia-mcpherson-thumbnail-1603.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-male-mia-mcpherson-thumbnail-1603.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/great-tailed-grackle-male-mia-mcpherson-thumbnail-1603.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":166679,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/11\/rusty-blackbird-and-snow-in-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":75758,"position":4},"title":"Rusty Blackbird And Snow In Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 11, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"One year ago today I sat on my friend Steve Creek's deck with at least 10 inches of snow on the ground, photographing birds, including this sharp looking Rusty Blackbird.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rusty Blackbird foraging in deep snow, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/rusty-blackbird-arkansas-snow-mia-mcpherson-0799.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/rusty-blackbird-arkansas-snow-mia-mcpherson-0799.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/rusty-blackbird-arkansas-snow-mia-mcpherson-0799.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/rusty-blackbird-arkansas-snow-mia-mcpherson-0799.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":114447,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/07\/17\/common-grackle-males-in-arkansas\/","url_meta":{"origin":75758,"position":5},"title":"Common Grackle Males in Arkansas","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 17, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, I am tickled to share three male Common Grackle photos. I took these images in my friend Steve Creek's yard during my visit to Arkansas last month.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Common Grackle male with a surprised look, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/common-grackle-male-mia-mcpherson-4878.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/common-grackle-male-mia-mcpherson-4878.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/common-grackle-male-mia-mcpherson-4878.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/common-grackle-male-mia-mcpherson-4878.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\/75758","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=75758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}