{"id":84060,"date":"2021-04-10T06:23:32","date_gmt":"2021-04-10T12:23:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=84060"},"modified":"2022-03-14T17:23:11","modified_gmt":"2022-03-14T23:23:11","slug":"singing-adult-savannah-sparrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/10\/singing-adult-savannah-sparrow\/","title":{"rendered":"Singing Adult Savannah Sparrow"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-100712 size-full\" title=\"Singing Savannah Sparrow\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-4200.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-4200.jpg\" alt=\"Singing Savannah Sparrow, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27600%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20600%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27600%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-4200-200x133.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-4200-250x167.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-4200-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-4200-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-4200-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-4200-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-4200-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-4200.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Singing Savannah Sparrow \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Since early March I have been hearing the calls and songs of Savannah Sparrows at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fws.gov\/refuge\/bear_river_migratory_bird_refuge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> and I have wanted to photograph them again. These small sparrows have a distinctive song that my ears can detect easily. Finding and photographing them is a more challenging than hearing them.<\/p>\n<p>This singing adult Savannah Sparrow was photographed on the road that goes to the auto tour route five days ago and I took a nice series of photos of this bird.<\/p>\n<p>I started hearing the Savannah Sparrows early in the morning and it became a challenge to myself to take photos of them that day.<\/p>\n<p>In some locations I have been able to walk up to Savannah Sparrows and photograph them easily. That isn&#8217;t the case at Bear River MBR.<\/p>\n<h2>How I find Savannah Sparrows at Bear River MBR<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>I listen for their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xeno-canto.org\/335702\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">calls<\/span><\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xeno-canto.org\/406198\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">songs<\/span><\/a>. During the spring season these sparrows can be heard frequently along the road to the auto tour route and on it.<\/li>\n<li>I drive slowly which makes it easier to find the Savannah Sparrows visually.<\/li>\n<li>I stop and wait alongside the road when I hear them singing and scan the area.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Photographing Savannah Sparrows at Bear River MBR<\/h2>\n<p>I know from experience that when Savannah Sparrows are singing they are usually near the top of whatever perch they have chosen to sing from. Knowing their behaviors can be a great help when finding and photographing this species.<\/p>\n<p>On that topic, I am also aware that the Savannah Sparrows at the refuge aren&#8217;t likely to stick around long and will frequently dive for cover before I can get them in my viewfinder. I know that I have to get this sparrow species in my viewfinder as fast as I can, lock onto them, and start taking photos quickly when I locate one that is close enough to photograph.<\/p>\n<p>If I don&#8217;t I may have missed my window of opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>I adore listening to, seeing, and photographing Savannah Sparrows. I&#8217;m more than willing to make whatever changes I need to make to take high quality photos of them.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/savannah-sparrow-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my Savannah Sparrow photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This singing adult Savannah Sparrow was photographed on the road that goes to the auto tour route five days ago and I took a nice series of photos of this bird.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":100712,"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":[124,27,1148,831,26],"tags":[4004,5672,4194,4394,229,4179,855,4195,165,8917],"class_list":["post-84060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-savannah-sparrows","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-flats","tag-passerculus-sandwichensis","tag-post","tag-savannah-sparrow","tag-singing-2","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-spring","tag-wooden-post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-4200.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-lRO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100780,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/15\/late-winter-savannah-sparrow-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":84060,"position":0},"title":"Late Winter Savannah Sparrow Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I was delighted to find a late winter Savannah Sparrow out in the open to photograph next to the road.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Late winter Savannah Sparrow perched on a fence, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-late-winter-mia-mcpherson-1717.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-late-winter-mia-mcpherson-1717.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-late-winter-mia-mcpherson-1717.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-late-winter-mia-mcpherson-1717.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":113359,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/10\/savannah-sparrow-in-side-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":84060,"position":1},"title":"Savannah Sparrow In Side Light","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 10, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The last time I went to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, I very much needed the peace, tranquility, and birds I found there, including this Savannah Sparrow.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring Savannah Sparrow in side light, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/savannah-sparrow-spring-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-1568.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":57184,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/04\/11\/singing-savannah-sparrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":84060,"position":2},"title":"Singing Savannah Sparrow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 11, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I wonder if GEICO knows that they can drive a birder\/bird photographer bonkers as easy as they did me over the winter.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Savannah Sparrow singing next to a road, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-7877.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-7877.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-7877.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-singing-mia-mcpherson-7877.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101612,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/18\/savannah-sparrow-in-the-marsh-of-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":84060,"position":3},"title":"Savannah Sparrow In The Marsh Of Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I've been hearing more Savannah Sparrows than usual at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge this spring. I hope that means their numbers are increasing.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Savannah Sparrow perched in the marsh at Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/savannah-sparrow-adult-marsh-mia-mcpherson-2823.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/savannah-sparrow-adult-marsh-mia-mcpherson-2823.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/savannah-sparrow-adult-marsh-mia-mcpherson-2823.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/savannah-sparrow-adult-marsh-mia-mcpherson-2823.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45693,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/03\/20\/spring-songs-savannah-sparrows\/","url_meta":{"origin":84060,"position":4},"title":"Spring Songs &#8211; Savannah Sparrows","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 20, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"On my last two trips up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I have heard Savannah Sparrows singing \"sit sit sit sit suh-EEEEE say\" from somewhere in the marshes.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Beaverhead County&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Savannah Sparrow on fence railing, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-montana-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-montana-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-montana-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/savannah-sparrow-montana-mia-mcpherson-6731.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100931,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/20\/world-sparrow-day-2022\/","url_meta":{"origin":84060,"position":5},"title":"World Sparrow Day 2022","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 20, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Today is World Sparrow Day and since I love all of the sparrows on the planet I thought I'd share some of the sparrows I have photographed in North America.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;American Tree Sparrows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"American Tree Sparrows","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/emberzine-sparrows-allies\/american-tree-sparrows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult White-crowned Sparrow in a hackberry tree, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-hackberry-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-4955.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\/84060","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=84060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}