{"id":80469,"date":"2021-03-05T05:52:43","date_gmt":"2021-03-05T12:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=80469"},"modified":"2025-11-07T07:03:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T13:03:12","slug":"sage-thrashers-time-to-listen-for-their-march-melodies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/03\/05\/sage-thrashers-time-to-listen-for-their-march-melodies\/","title":{"rendered":"Sage Thrashers – Time To Listen For Their March Melodies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MatedMated pair of Sage Thrashers \u2013 Nikon D300, f11, 1\/500, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Sage Thrashers return to northern Utah in March and it is now time for me to start listening for their songs and melodies. I believe my earliest sighting of this species is on March 8th which is just three days from now.<\/p>\n

Typically I hear these songsters before I see them. They sing<\/span><\/a> frequently when they first return to their breeding grounds here in the Great Basin. I love hearing their songs and calls so I am looking forward to the auditory delights they bring when they migrate to my area.<\/p>\n

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic I wasn’t able to visit Antelope Island<\/span><\/a> last spring when the Sage Thrashers were displaying because (then) Governor Gary Herbert locked the state parks down so that only the people who lived in the county of each individual park could visit them.<\/p>\n

I don’t live in Davis County so I could not get to Antelope Island. By the time I could get to the park the thrashers had stopped their courtship displays and the biting gnats were out and terrorizing people.<\/p>\n

The photo above of the pair of Sage Thrashers was taken on Antelope Island in 2013.<\/p>\n

\"PerchedPerched adult Sage Thrasher \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Antelope island is one of the best places I know to see and photograph the Sage Thrashers displaying and courting. The best part? You don’t even need to get out of your vehicle to photograph them.<\/p>\n

In fact, I’d advise anyone visiting the park to stay in their vehicles to take images of these thrashers because they are used to vehicles but not people on foot. That is my tip of the day.<\/p>\n

I can hardly wait to see and hear my first Sage Thrasher of 2021.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Sage Thrasher photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

The Sage Thrasher photo above was taken in Box Elder County in 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sage Thrashers return to northern Utah in March and it is now time for me to start listening for their songs and melodies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":163036,"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":[511,27,1148,1022,103,26],"tags":[4004,6577,4098,11978,9382,821,4164,2139,4104,4289,11852,4003,7474,4018,165,2315,4613,735],"class_list":["post-80469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-davis-county-utah","category-sage-thrashers","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-branches","tag-desert","tag-desert-island","tag-mated","tag-mimids-2","tag-oreoscoptes-montanus","tag-pair","tag-perched","tag-rabbitbrush","tag-ranchlands","tag-sage-thrasher","tag-seep","tag-sky","tag-spring","tag-summer-3","tag-thrasher","tag-thrashers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-adult-mia-mcpherson-2876.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-kVT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100621,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/13\/looking-for-my-first-of-year-sage-thrasher\/","url_meta":{"origin":80469,"position":0},"title":"Looking For My First Of Year Sage Thrasher","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"March 13th is an anniversary of sorts for me. The date is the earliest that I have seen and photographed a Sage Thrasher in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fluffy Sage Thrasher adult warming up on a rock, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/sage-thrasher-adult-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-0248.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/sage-thrasher-adult-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-0248.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/sage-thrasher-adult-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-0248.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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McPherson","date":"March 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The comparisons I have made between juvenile, immature and adult Sage Thrashers are basic, there are more ways to determine their age but I wanted to keep the comparisons simple.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Sage Thrasher on Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-5075.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-on-rock-mia-mcpherson-5075.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Mimid family. They forage mainly on the ground for insects, though they do eat berries at times.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sage Thrasher juvenile on a rock, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5100.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5100.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5100.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/sage-thrasher-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5100.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\/80469","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=80469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}