Interesting Female Red-winged Blackbird

This past Sunday, I encountered an interesting female red-winged blackbird.  First I noticed that she had no tail!  She was on a floating boardwalk in a local park/nature center, availing herself of bread left from public feeding Canada geese.

She was attended by a male who aggressively drove off another female who came too close, so I assumed they must have a nest nearby.

Note the brightness of her epaulets!  Some thought (Johnson et al, The Auk, 1996) that the brightness signals status in female-female aggressive encounters.