> New information does not equate to contrast. So, it's not that the sentence
> below equates to either _the **bird** is blue_ or _the bird is **blue.**_
> Providing details is something we do all the time in a conversation, but
> it's not the case that we make each detail a topic of discussion. If we do,
> we return later and address them as topics of a new paragraph or statement
> (if you're talking). が does have an emphatic usage, but the contexts are not
> the same. We will see this soon.
>
>   4. その[鳥]{とり}が赤い。  
>  The bird is red.
>

(from [第9課: The Particles が & は](http://www.imabi.net/l9theparticlesgawa.htm))
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word-choice
Can you explain this a little better?
I'd recommend you to ignore that explanation, because the writer doesn't
**really** seem to understand what は・が are for. (Especially about the bold
parts)

First, が denotes the subject **in a clause**.

  * 東から日が昇ること a fact that the sun rises in the east
  * 象が鼻が長いこと a fact that elephants have a long trunk

**When you turn it into a sentence of statement (in other words, not a
question or an order), you must include some topic parts.**

  * 東から **は** 日が昇る (to a question "what will happen in the east?")
  * 日 **は** 東から昇る (to a question "which sky does the sun rises in?")

These sentences stand for your judgement about permanent facts.

On the other hands, sentences that describe or report what you have just seen
or discovered are composed without any topic parts.

  * ほら、東から日が昇る！ Look, the sun is about to rise in the east!

In this usage, when the subject is modified with この or その, the subject must be
indicated without particles.

  * その鳥、赤い！

When you say "it's in the east that the sun rises", you can express it as
日が昇るのは東からだ in Japanese (besides 日は東から昇る). This structure can be inverted into
**東から** 日が昇る. That's another sentence with が.

So, the reasonable interpretation for the sentence その鳥が赤い will be "it's that
bird that is red".
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answer