European Starling and Repost

Nice portrait of this pretty bird, despite it's invasive status. Love the pose and the worn wood. I am impressed with what these new Sigmas can do.
Sandy

Allen, this looks like it would make a good "wanted" poster for this species.  Must admit though, they are a pretty bird and you have done a great job of bringing all the details out, including the blacks.  Background and perch appear a little bright, but both are very complimentary to the image.

Although I hold this species in disdain that doesn't stop me from taking photos of them when they look good and pose for me. You've got both of those going for you here - nice plumage and excellent pose.

I agree about the brightness of the BG. Try this - select the starling, invert the selection to get everything else, and with the inverted selection active add a new adjustment layer. It doesn't matter which type as you aren't going to make any adjustments. Just set the blend mode for the new layer to Multiply and that will darken everythnig but the starling. Then pull down the intensity to about 50%.

I agree with Richard and endorse his approach to the over-bright background.

Nice iridescence you captured well here Allen.  To my eye the whole image is a little too bright and the exposure should be reduced a bit.  It looks to me like the back is sharper than the head, if this isn't much of a crop it's probably a depth of field issue with your focus on the back and not enough depth of field to get the head tack sharp. 

You really got some great breeding plumage here, Allen.  Looks like the light was pretty bright, but it came out well.

Richard,

Thanks for the suggestion and directions.  I haven't tried this technique before.  I think it does look better.  The starling shows better against the darker background and there is more detail in the perch.

Allen:

You are welcome. I like the repost. By going a bit darker on the background it also makes the colors appear richer.