Another RWBB (Immature Male?)

[Steve Canuel]

40D, 400DO + 1.4xTCII, f6.3, 1/125s, ISO 800, +1 EC, tripod, removed a couple of bright stalks from BG, slight crop.

[John Chardine]

Very nice Steve! I like the simple perch and uncluttered BG. The light is really nice and the exposure is dead-on.

After studying Sibley I still don't know what sex this bird is. It could be a first summer male because of the amount of red in the hand (= epaulet), but the red is not quite right for a young male, again based on Sibley. maybe we should sort this out over in Avian ID.

[Phil Ertel]

I like the composition. Nice room for the bird to look into. I like the perch. I think the background works well. Combined with the perch it gives a feel for the environment. Thanks for sharing.

[Juan Carlos Vindas]

Very nice bird Steve. Not sure about the ID. We will have to wait :)

Lovely light and perch, this bird looks very proud there.

[Adams Serra]

I agree with all the comments above. The BG colors works great with the bird and perch.

[Ramon M. Casares]

I like this one very much, pose, light, ambient, comp, BG, colors and detail are great, maybe a bit oversharpened, but just a little. COngratulaitons!

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Comp is perfect as are colors and light. COuld not ask for a more balanced and appealing portrait of this species.

[Stu Bowie]

Super comp, stunning light, and love the colours in this Steve. Great capture.

[Fabs Forns]

That is one good looking bird! I'm not a biologist, but based on obervations of the species, I'd say it is a young male. Besides the epaulets that the females don't have, the shape of the body is consistent with the male, of course, he could be fluffed too :)

Beautiful as presented with great BG, EXP and diagonal perch.

[Mark Schmitt]

Very nice image and plenty good for ID. This is deffinitly looking like an adult femal. Note the heavy streaking; the ocracious buffy tones on the mantle; and the unique orange coloration in the throat and finally the conspicuos white brow-line in the supercillium. See the accompanying web site. Scrol down to the comparative image of the adult male and female plus the imuature and fledgling images.
Well done on the image. ;-)
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/R...d_Blackbird/id

[Fabs Forns]

Very nice image and plenty good for ID. This is deffinitly looking like an adult femal. Note the heavy streaking; the ocracious buffy tones on the mantle; and the unique orange coloration in the throat and finally the conspicuos white brow-line in the supercillium. See the accompanying web site. Scrol down to the comparative image of the adult male and female plus the imuature and fledgling images.
Well done on the image. ;-)
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/R...d_Blackbird/id

Mark, there is no mention of the epaulets in the adult female and I have never seen them either. The pictures on the website are consistent with an immature male.

[Dean Fleischman]

Great image, love the color and background. I think I would crop for less room to the right and would be tempted to crop from bottom, although I imagine you wanted to preserve the entire cattail.

Based on behavior, I have to say I believe this to be an adult female in what passes for breeding colors in this species. I have seen female adults who have this reddish, almost wine-colored, epulet feeding their young.

[Brian Wong]

Hi Steve!

I can't comment on the ID, but a very beautiful image with the diagonals of the perch & the bird. Very nice detail and pleasing background. The perch is also good telling the environment. On my monitor, I am seeing a very faint halo about the head and front region.

[Mike Lentz]

Great portrait on a perfect BG! The only thing "I" might do is clone off some of the tip of thje cattail and crop off some of the right hand side of the image so the bird wouldn't appear as centered.