I don't have a powerful enough lens to take close-up photographs of birds (yet), but I think you can still see how robust this particular red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) is. I photographed him in July of last year, singing to stake his claim to his territory, and I don't think I've seen a male with brighter shoulder-patches before or since.
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Very red indeed. They can be quite startlingly bright. I've gotten a few nice shots (here is one)
Our RWBB are very bright. The male you photographed was right at the end of his "come and get it ladies" call when he hunches over and flashes the patches.
Our females go nuts for the brightest of the males.
However, the females of this species are not as faithful as one would think. We had a pair of younger males who would tag team the dominant male. One would fly in to mate with his females and when the dominant male chased him off, his brother flew in and mated with the females. I watched the pair of brothers for hours one summer and had to laugh. The poor dominant male was almost too tired from chasing the brothers to bother with the females.
Come spring, the males arrive first at our place and stake out the reedy pond for mating places. The lesser males stake out our fallow field, which is close to the pond, but not as ideal a nesting area. The females arrive some time after the males and usually end up trying to nest where they were born.
I love red-winged blackbirds. They're very pretty, but they don't live up here. I only see them when I travel down to Wisconson once every like five years...