{"id":9096,"date":"2013-08-05T03:44:54","date_gmt":"2013-08-05T09:44:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=9096"},"modified":"2025-11-07T11:25:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T17:25:11","slug":"western-kingbird-juvenile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/08\/05\/western-kingbird-juvenile\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Kingbird Juvenile"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JuvenileJuvenile Western Kingbird – Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t often have the opportunity to photograph juvenile Western Kingbirds but last week I did at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> in Box Elder County. There was a family group of Western Kingbirds near the road and some shrubs.<\/p>\n

Some were very flighty but this young Western Kingbird wasn’t and posed for several minutes on a strand of rusty barbed wire.<\/p>\n

\"WesternWestern Kingbird juvenile on a barbed wire perch\u00a0– Nikon D300, f6.3, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The juveniles colors look softer, more delicately colored and they certainly don’t look as tyrannical as the adults do!\u00a0 Normally I prefer natural perches when photographing birds but kingbirds love to perch on wires, I am just glad this wire is aged and rustic looking.<\/p>\n

They might look sweet now but before long they will inflict as much tyranny on their prey as the adults.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

I don’t often have the opportunity to photograph juvenile Western Kingbirds but last week I did at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in Box Elder County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":163080,"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":[124,27,1148,26,534],"tags":[4430,4068,3830,3808,4884,4067,4071,3791,3772,4104,4183,4411,4193],"class_list":["post-9096","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-western-kingbirds","tag-barbed-wire","tag-chicks","tag-fence","tag-flycatcher","tag-flycatchers","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-kingbird","tag-kingbirds","tag-perched","tag-tyrannus-verticalis","tag-western-kingbird","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-young-mia-mcpherson-0064.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-2mI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":36910,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/03\/09\/western-and-eastern-kingbird-juveniles\/","url_meta":{"origin":9096,"position":0},"title":"Western and Eastern Kingbird Juveniles","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I feel fortunate that I am able to see and photograph both the Western and Eastern Kingbird juveniles here in northern Utah.","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":"Juvenile Eastern Kingbird perched on a fence post at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/eastern-kingbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2786.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/eastern-kingbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2786.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/eastern-kingbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2786.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/eastern-kingbird-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-2786.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":113327,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/05\/08\/my-first-of-year-western-kingbird-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":9096,"position":1},"title":"My First Of Year Western Kingbird Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 8, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"On my last trip to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I was tickled to take my first of year Western Kingbird photos when I was heading back to the interstate.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-4582.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-4582.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-4582.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/western-kingbird-mia-mcpherson-4582.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5209,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/06\/21\/perched-eastern-kingbird\/","url_meta":{"origin":9096,"position":3},"title":"Perched Eastern Kingbird","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 21, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"I always look forward to seeing and photographing Eastern Kingbirds (Tyrannus tyrannus) during the warmer months of the year. I was fortunate to see a few yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge in northern Utah.","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":"Eastern Kingbird perched on an old fence post, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-kingbird-perched-mia-mcpherson-8943.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-kingbird-perched-mia-mcpherson-8943.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/eastern-kingbird-perched-mia-mcpherson-8943.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Kingbird.","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":"Young Eastern Kingbird close up, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/eastern-kingbird-immature-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4036.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/eastern-kingbird-immature-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4036.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/eastern-kingbird-immature-close-up-mia-mcpherson-4036.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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