Mockingbirds, Thrashers, Catbirds, Starlings and Pipits – Mia McPherson's On The Wing Photography

Friday Photos – Northern Mockingbird

By Mia McPherson|July 15th, 2011|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Northern Mockingbirds, Utah|Tags: adult, Artemisia tridentata, Big Sagebrush, biting gnats, defensive, mimids, Mimus polyglottos, mockingbird, mockingbirds, nest, Northern Mockingbird, perching bird, sage, sagebrush, ticked off|

A Loggerhead Shrike flew into a sagebrush and right after that I could hear a bird that sounded upset. The upset bird was this Northern Mockingbird.

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Bye bye Blackbirds? The USDA is killing birds with DRC-1339

By Mia McPherson|January 30th, 2011|Categories: Birds, Brewer's Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbirds, Davis County, European Starlings, Florida, Great-tailed Grackles, Pinellas County, Red-winged Blackbirds, Salt Lake County, Utah, Wildlife Ethics & Etiquette, Yellow-headed Blackbirds|Tags: Agelaius phoeniceus, Antelope Island State Park, avicide, blackbird, blackbirds, Brewer's Blackbird, Brown-headed Cowbird, Bye bye Blackbird, DRC-1339, Euphagus cyanocephalus, European Starling, Great-tailed Grackle, mass bird deaths, mass bird die off, Molothrus ater, poisoned, poisons, Red-winged Blackbird, Salt Lake County, Sturnus vulgaris, USDA, Wildlife Services, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus|

Recently the USDA accepted responsibility for a smaller die off in South Dakota which brought to light a little known program called "Bye bye Blackbird" which uses DRC-1339, a poison that is also called an avicide.

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Four Eyes For Bird Photography

By Mia McPherson|October 4th, 2010|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Black-billed Magpies, Davis County, European Starlings, Loggerhead Shrikes, Utah, Wildlife Ethics & Etiquette|Tags: bird photography, Black-billed Magpie, ethics, European Starling, Lanius ludovicianus, Loggerhead Shrike, magpie, magpies, nesting, nesting ethics, nesting material, perched, Pica hudsonia, shrike, shrikes, starling, starlings, Sturnus vulgaris|

One photographer might have better vision and be able to spot birds that the other person may not have seen. Four eyes are better than two.

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Sage Thrashers

By Mia McPherson|August 23rd, 2010|Categories: Antelope Island State Park, Birds, Davis County, Sage Thrashers, Utah|Tags: adult, behavior, bird ID, chick, comparison, differences, immature, juveniles, Oreoscoptes montanus, perched, rocks, Sage Thrasher, sunflowers, thrasher, thrashers, young|

Sage Thrashers are from the Mimid family. They forage mainly on the ground for insects, though they do eat berries at times.

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