Red-winged Blackbirds are hard to photograph. You end up loosing detail in the black plumage, or in the red, or in both! And, of course, you do not want to do that, because the Red-winged Blackbird is one of the most beautiful of North American songbirds. Really. Take a close look.

Fortunately, they are also relatively cooperative. They will hop up on a cattail or branch right in front of you and sing lustily. This one, at Magee Marsh during the Biggest Week in American Birding, certainly posed nicely…and in good light to catch the subtlety of the plumage.

Olympus OM-D E-M10 with 75-300mm zoom. 600mm equivalent. Shutter preferred. 1 /640th @ ISO 2500 @ f6.7. Processed in Snapseed on my tablet.