Bird of the Iron Feather

Bird of the Iron Feather
Genre	Soap opera Police drama Soul drama
Created by	Richard Durham
Story by	Richard Durham
Directed by	Roy Inman Harold C. Johnson Peter Strand Louis Abraham
Starring	Bernard Ward Yolande Bryant Ira William Rogers Milton Lamb Melva Williams
Theme music composer	Muhal Richard Abrams
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	21
Production
Executive producer	Clarence McIntosh
Production locations	Chicago, Illinois, United States
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	30 minutes
Production company	WTTW
Budget	$600,000
Original release
Network	National Educational Television
Release	January 19 (1970-01-19) – March 6, 1970 (1970-03-06)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Bird of the Iron Feather is an American television soap opera that aired on the National Educational Television network from January 19 to March 6, 1970. Created by script writer and radio producer Richard Durham, the series was notable as the first all-Black television soap opera. Bird of the Iron Feather starred African American actor Bernard Ward as fictional Chicago Police Detective Jonah Rhodes. The series addressed social issues like racism, school desegregation and the complicated relationship between Black people and the police. Produced in Chicago, Illinois, the series won a Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award, and was the highest-rated local show ever broadcast by WTTW-TV in Chicago.