agelaius (belonging to a flock) phoeniceus (deep red)
Wednesday, May 23, 1979 – 10:30 a.m.
Des Plaines, Illinois – O’Hare International – Manheim Road
My roommate and I had just pulled off the Kennedy Expressway onto Manheim Road when I spotted a male Red-winged Blackbird perched on a fence post in a weedy field between the airport and the road.