Female Bobolink

Yesterday I showed a pair of male Bobolinks I met this past June. Today I'll go back a few years to show a picture of a female Bobolink.

I believe the relatively dark feathering on the top of the head, the line behind the eye, and the lines on the wings are dark enough for this to represent a breeding plumage female. If the coloring in these spots was lighter, I'd be more inclined to think this to be either a male or female with non-breeding plumage (which this time of year would probably mean a juvenile born earlier in the season).

Because we see Bobolinks primarily during breeding season, it's generally very easy for us to distinguish males from females. If we lived in South America though, both genders would look like a lighter version of my picture, and I'm not even sure people can distinguish the males from the females.

Since female Bobolinks are polyandrous, her nestlings could have different fathers, and may actually get help feeding them from more than 1 male Bobolink. And because the males are polygynous, they may be seen helping feed more than one set of nestlings. It no doubt makes Father's Day and family reunions confusing affairs for Bobolinks, but they seem content with the arrangement.

September 23, 2018 at Negri Nepote Native Grassland Preserve
Photo 25563955, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


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