{"id":8629,"date":"2013-06-21T03:45:34","date_gmt":"2013-06-21T09:45:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=8629"},"modified":"2024-12-14T04:52:22","modified_gmt":"2024-12-14T10:52:22","slug":"european-starling-eating-brine-flies-on-the-shoreline-of-the-great-salt-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/06\/21\/european-starling-eating-brine-flies-on-the-shoreline-of-the-great-salt-lake\/","title":{"rendered":"European Starling eating Brine flies on the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"EuropeanEuropean Starling eating Brine flies on the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week I was photographing shorebirds and a Chukar eating Brine flies on the shore of the Great Salt Lake<\/span><\/a> when this European Starling flew in and started to eat them too. I was surprised to see the European Starling eating brine flies because they are relative newcomers to North America and it seems that they have adapted to the hyper-saline environment around the salty lake and are taking advantage of the abundance of brine flies there.<\/p>\n

Now I can add European Starlings to my list of birds I have observed and photographed eating the brine flies here.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Last week I was photographing shorebirds and a Chukar eating Brine flies on the shore of the Great Salt Lake when this European Starling flew in and started to eat them too. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":137839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,5310,1022,249,26],"tags":[4004,5991,4229,4286,251,6618,4005,1525,5178,9674,4188,2256,4815,4739,4262],"class_list":["post-8629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-brine-flies","category-davis-county-utah","category-european-starlings","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-brine-flies","tag-brine-fly","tag-eating","tag-european-starling","tag-flies","tag-great-salt-lake","tag-hyper-saline","tag-lake","tag-saline","tag-shoreline","tag-species-adaptation","tag-starling","tag-starlings","tag-sturnus-vulgaris"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/european-starling-brine-flies-mia-mcpherson-8463.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2fb","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6248,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/10\/03\/california-gull-the-chase-is-on\/","url_meta":{"origin":8629,"position":0},"title":"California Gull – The Chase is On","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 3, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"While my mother was visiting Utah she was able to see how California Gulls chase and feed on Brine Flies, it is fascinating feeding behavior. As my mom watched, I photographed.","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":"California Gull gobbling up Brine Flies at the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/california-gull-mia-mcpherson-6389.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/california-gull-mia-mcpherson-6389.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/california-gull-mia-mcpherson-6389.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/wilsons-phalaropes-flock-mia-mcpherson-9519.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/wilsons-phalaropes-flock-mia-mcpherson-9519.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/wilsons-phalaropes-flock-mia-mcpherson-9519.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/wilsons-phalaropes-flock-mia-mcpherson-9519.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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McPherson","date":"July 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"While Franklin's Gulls are in northern Utah for their breeding season brine flies are an important food source for the adults and their young and are a part of their breeding success here in the Great Basin.","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":"Adult Franklin's Gull scooping up Brine flies at the Great Salt Lake, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, 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