Portrait of a male red-winged blackbird in late March of 2024
In late March my father and I returned to a local wetlands park we’d not visited in some time. While there I photographed a nicely posed red-winged blackbird.
This is a good example of how male red-winged blackbirds are able to hide the majority of their red epaulets when they want to, covering them with black feathers. They might display more red when trying to impress a female blackbird, or when they want to show dominance over other nearby males, perhaps as a way of marking their territory and willingness to protect it.
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