Red-winged Blackbird (male)

First of year!!! I've been waiting to hear their beautiful song all winter, and now they're back. I remember one year, when I was about four, I saw a Red-winged Blackbird for the first time, and it was beautiful, I named it "Preston" and it kept the name until I learned the actual name of the bird.
These beauties have a gorgeous "Conk-la-ree" call which really brings back summer memories. The males are primarily black with red and yellow on their wings. In Winter plumage, the red and yellow concentrations are about the same, but the red increases as the summer approaches, perhaps because of mating season. Females appear as a large sparrow, which brownish markings on the body and a white band through the eye. They both have stocky, sharp beaks. They are a member of the awesome family Icteridae which also includes Orioles and Bobolinks.