Female Red-winged Blackbird

Here's a Red-winged Blackbird I met a couple months back. The astute observer will notice that isn't black and doesn't have red on the wings. This is the issue with identifying many female birds, especially when the species was named after the much-differently-feathered males, a form of sexual dimorphism. 

These birds can be misinterpreted as European Starlings or sparrows or finches. I find it very helpful to see what male birds are around when I'm trying to identify the females since many times the males have more distinctive plumage. 

Female Red-winged Blackbirds do have plenty of company in getting misidentified. Northern Cardinals, Indigo Buntings, and Baltimore Orioles are just a few species where the females look a lot different than the males.

June 2, 2021 at Negri-Nepote Native Grassland Preserve
Photo 136367750, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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