{"id":91335,"date":"2021-06-30T05:27:48","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T11:27:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=91335"},"modified":"2024-07-08T05:07:01","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T10:07:01","slug":"gray-catbird-searching-for-berries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/06\/30\/gray-catbird-searching-for-berries\/","title":{"rendered":"Gray Catbird Searching For Berries"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SummerSummer Gray Catbird perched on a stick \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning I spent part of my time in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a> focused on a Gray Catbird searching for ripe honeysuckle berries. The catbirds have young now and in between foraging for food for their chicks they need to find food for themselves too. Black Twinberry Honeysuckle berries are easy pickings for the adult catbirds because they are ripe and juicy. The sugars in the berries provide the adults with the energy they need to take care of their 2 to 6 chicks.<\/p>\n

This adult Gray Catbird was perched above a clump of the honeysuckles after it had already foraged for the berries yesterday morning.<\/p>\n

\"ExcitedExcited Gray Catbird flashing its tail \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t know what got the catbird so excited that it flashed its tail but I enjoyed getting a photo that showed this behavior. Right after this image was taken this catbird flew down to the shore of the creek to look for food for its young on the creek bank. I was able to see it pick up small insects before it flew away with the food in its bill.<\/p>\n

\"RipeRipe Black Twinberry Honeysuckle berries \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 ripe Black Twinberry Honeysuckle berries don’t last long on the shrubs. The catbirds eat them quickly and so do American Robins, Cedar Waxwings, and other fruit eating birds. In a matter of days all of the ripened honeysuckle berries will be gobbled up and will provide nourishment for the adults as they scramble to rear their young.<\/p>\n

This honeysuckle photo was taken yesterday morning.<\/p>\n

\"BloomingBlooming Black Twinberry Honeysuckle close up \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This image of the same clump of Black Twinberry Honeysuckle in bloom was taken on June 1st. It doesn’t take very long for the honeysuckle berries to form, ripen, and be eaten.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Gray Catbird photos plus facts and information about this species. Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my wildflower photos along with shrubs and trees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday morning I spent part of my time in the Wasatch Mountains focused on a Gray Catbird searching for ripe honeysuckle berries.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":130342,"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":[27,3605,1731,26,773],"tags":[4004,6605,6666,6603,6098,3940,6559,6558,3607,10013,11927,6518,6667,7672,3606,6608,9360,6600,4069,4302,4104,9626,7566,2315,6285,4176,3896,902,6099],"class_list":["post-91335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-gray-catbirds","category-summit-county-utah","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-adult","tag-berries","tag-berry","tag-black-twinberry-honeysuckle","tag-blooming","tag-canyon","tag-catbird","tag-catbirds","tag-dumetella-carolinensis","tag-excited","tag-flashing","tag-flowering","tag-fruit","tag-fruits","tag-gray-catbird","tag-honeysuckle","tag-honeysuckles","tag-lonicera-involucrata","tag-mountains","tag-native","tag-perched","tag-riparian-habitat","tag-stick","tag-summer-3","tag-tail","tag-wasatch-mountains","tag-wildflower","tag-willows","tag-yellow-wildflower"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/gray-catbird-adult-mia-mcpherson-8823.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-nL9","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":52778,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/06\/26\/gray-catbirds-with-black-twin-berry-honeysuckle-berries\/","url_meta":{"origin":91335,"position":0},"title":"Gray Catbirds with Black Twinberry Honeysuckle Berries","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm going to keep trying to obtain better photos of the Gray Catbirds with the Black Twinberry berries and perhaps before long the catbirds will bring their young to feast on these berries too!","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Perched Gray Catbird with Black Twinberry berries, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-black-twin-berry-mia-mcpherson-8713.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/gray-catbird-black-twin-berry-mia-mcpherson-8713.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"June 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I wanted to share some photos of the birds and blooms that I took images of one morning last week while I was high in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "American Goldfinches"","block_context":{"text":"American Goldfinches","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/finches-and-allies\/american-goldfinches\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Peek-a-boo feeding male Broad-tailed Hummingbird, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/broad-tailed-hummingbird-male-feesing-mia-mcpherson-6926.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/broad-tailed-hummingbird-male-feesing-mia-mcpherson-6926.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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