Description
A loud, assertive male red-winged blackbird gripping tightly onto a tall marsh wetlands cattail stalk is chirping insistently and repeatedly with his wide open beak with the very distinctive bird call of this species. Tail feathers are fully fanned out help the bird balance on this shaky perch which shifts constantly in gusty breezes. Early spring morning at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge in the Finger Lakes Region of western New York State.