{"id":90232,"date":"2021-06-12T05:45:38","date_gmt":"2021-06-12T11:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=90232"},"modified":"2025-10-17T06:42:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T11:42:29","slug":"song-sparrow-eating-a-snail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/06\/12\/song-sparrow-eating-a-snail\/","title":{"rendered":"Song Sparrow Eating A Snail"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photographing a Song Sparrow eating a snail yesterday morning as it foraged in a creek in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a> was a unique experience for me.<\/p>\n

\"SongSong Sparrow adult foraging in a creek \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

There were several adult Song Sparrows near the creek and it was difficult to decide which one to focus on. I think I picked a sparrow that showed me some interesting behavior.<\/p>\n

\"SongSong Sparrow with a snail in its bill \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This Song Sparrow hopped from one stone to another in the creek which is running low now. A few weeks ago I couldn’t have been able to see the stones in the creek because the water was running fast and high.<\/p>\n

I saw the Song Sparrow pick something up from one of the stones in the creek and grasp it in its bill through my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

At that moment I couldn’t make out what the sparrow had because I was completely focused on photographing the sparrow.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Song Sparrow eating a snail \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Song Sparrow turned its head and closed its bill. In this photo I can see a small bit of something protruding from the left side of the Song Sparrow’s bill.<\/p>\n

When I viewed this photo and the one directly above it on my large screen at home I could see what I thought were snails on the rock to the right of the sparrow.<\/p>\n

Even blown up I wasn’t 100% positive that what I was seeing were snails so I dug back through my photos and looked closely at the first image in this post.<\/p>\n

\"SongSong Sparrow foraging in a creek – Snail in insert<\/span><\/p>\n

And I could definitely make out the spiral in the snail’s shell that was right next to the foot of the Song Sparrow.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Song Sparrow foraging in a shallow creek \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Once again I learned something new while photographing this sparrow in the field. Song Sparrows<\/span><\/a> eat Escargot!<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Photographing a Song Sparrow eating a snail yesterday morning as it foraged in a creek in the Wasatch Mountains was a unique experience for me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":136114,"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":[27,4594,204,26,773],"tags":[4004,5552,3940,3843,4286,11889,4136,4109,11888,4202,4069,9626,8843,4023,855,4195,165,11887,3996],"class_list":["post-90232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-morgan-county","category-song-sparrows","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-bill","tag-canyon","tag-creek","tag-eating","tag-escargot","tag-foraging","tag-grasses","tag-insert","tag-melospiza-melodia","tag-mountains","tag-riparian-habitat","tag-snail","tag-song-sparrow","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-spring","tag-stones","tag-water"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/song-sparrow-adult-creek-snail-mia-mcpherson-6111.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-ntm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92381,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/19\/fledgling-song-sparrow-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":90232,"position":0},"title":"Fledgling Song Sparrow Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Any day now I should spot my first of season fledgling Song Sparrow exploring their world and learning how to find food on their own.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fledgling Song Sparrow eating at the edge of a creek, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/song-sparrow-juvenile-creek-mia-mcpherson-5973.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/song-sparrow-juvenile-creek-mia-mcpherson-5973.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Morning","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Last month I had a brief photo session with a young Song Sparrow near a creek in bright morning light high in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Song Sparrow perched on an old willow branch, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/song-sparrow-young-mia-mcpherson-5371.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/song-sparrow-young-mia-mcpherson-5371.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/song-sparrow-young-mia-mcpherson-5371.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/song-sparrow-juvenile-willow-stump-mia-mcpherson-2695.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/song-sparrow-juvenile-willow-stump-mia-mcpherson-2695.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/song-sparrow-juvenile-willow-stump-mia-mcpherson-2695.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/song-sparrow-juvenile-willow-stump-mia-mcpherson-2695.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":102157,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/05\/05\/spring-song-sparrow-gathering-nesting-materials\/","url_meta":{"origin":90232,"position":4},"title":"Spring Song Sparrow Gathering Nesting Materials","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Towards the end of April I spent a few minutes photographing an adult Song Sparrow looking for and gathering nesting materials high in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Song Sparrow gathering nesting materials, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/song-sparrow-adult-ground-mia-mcpherson-8329.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/song-sparrow-adult-ground-mia-mcpherson-8329.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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