{"id":84690,"date":"2021-04-16T05:56:30","date_gmt":"2021-04-16T11:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=84690"},"modified":"2025-05-20T14:53:18","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T19:53:18","slug":"male-yellow-headed-blackbird-on-a-rock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/04\/16\/male-yellow-headed-blackbird-on-a-rock\/","title":{"rendered":"Male Yellow-headed Blackbird On A Rock"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MaleMale Yellow-headed Blackbird resting on a rock \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

On Monday while at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> one of the first birds I photographed was a male Yellow-headed Blackbird resting on a rock. I hadn’t even gotten to the auto tour route when I spotted this male perched next to a male Red-winged Blackbird. Both blackbirds may have been perched on the rock to capture the warmth of the rising sun on their dark plumage. It was still fairly chilly at the time.<\/p>\n

I parked my Jeep to get the best angle of light and started photographing the birds. After the Red-winged Blackbird flew off this Yellow-headed Blackbird had my full attention. It isn’t often I find this species perched on rocks.<\/p>\n

\"Yellow-headedYellow-headed Blackbird male on a rock \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

There were other male Yellow-headed Blackbirds nearby and this male sang and put on a display. Unfortunately for me when he sang and threw his head back towards his shoulder I could never get a view of his eyes so those photos will go into my delete bin. Since I’m usually not able to get as close to this species as I was I decided to take advantage of being able to get images of the yellow, black and white bird that showed the fine details in his plumage.<\/p>\n

\"MaleMale Yellow-headed Blackbird at the end of his song \u2013 Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though I wasn’t able to get eye contact from this male Yellow-headed Blackbird while he sang and displayed for the nearby males I did take a few images where at the end of his song I could see his eyes.<\/p>\n

Photographing the blackbirds was a wonderful way to start my peaceful and very relaxing morning on the marshes and wetlands of the refuge.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Yellow-headed Blackbird photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Monday while at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge one of the first birds I photographed was a male Yellow-headed Blackbird resting on a rock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":145677,"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":[124,27,1148,26,427],"tags":[4004,3813,3483,4142,4224,4062,4094,4156,4921,4735,165,4095,4178,1386],"class_list":["post-84690","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-utah","category-yellow-headed-blackbird","tag-adult","tag-blackbird","tag-blackbirds","tag-close-up","tag-early-morning","tag-male","tag-marsh","tag-resting","tag-rock","tag-song","tag-spring","tag-wetlands","tag-xanthocephalus-xanthocephalus","tag-yellow-headed-blackbird"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-rock-mia-mcpherson-5301.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-m1Y","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41972,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/09\/15\/male-yellow-headed-blackbird-displaying-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":84690,"position":0},"title":"Male Yellow-headed Blackbird Displaying at Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"When I photographed this male Yellow-headed Blackbird displaying at Bear River MBR it was a beautiful May morning and all the birds there were singing.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","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":"Male Yellow-headed Blackbird displaying, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherosn-5386.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherosn-5386.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherosn-5386.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-displaying-mia-mcpherosn-5386.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4849,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/20\/yellow-headed-blackbird-and-a-midge\/","url_meta":{"origin":84690,"position":1},"title":"Yellow-headed Blackbird and a Midge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 20, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) can perch on cattails, reeds, rushes or mounds of vegetation and snatch Midges right out of the air.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","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":"Yellow-headed Blackbird male about to grab a midge from the air, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-mia-mcpherson-4765.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-mia-mcpherson-4765.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow-headed Blackbird male just before lift off, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-3016.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-3016.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-3016.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-lift-off-mia-mcpherson-3016.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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I'm seeing them perched on cattails, phragmites and in flight.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","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":"Yellow-headed Blackbird male displaying, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-1642.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-1642.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-1642.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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6, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I was at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday morning and came home with some spring Yellow-headed Blackbird photos I am happy with.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","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":"Male Yellow-headed Blackbird perched in phrags, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-adult-phrags-mia-mcpherson-3783.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/yellow-headed-blackbird-male-adult-phrags-mia-mcpherson-3783.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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