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Slowing Down and Observing Female Birds
Identifying female birds requires careful observation.
© Linda Peterson
The colorful feathers and loud songs of male songbirds often catch a birder’s attention first. Observing females often means birding more slowly, noticing subtle differences in plumage and behavior, says Joanna Wu, who’s part of a group called the Galbatrosses that’s encouraging birders to spend more time identifying female birds. Fellow Galbatross Purbita Saha says that watching for females can help us understand birds on a deeper level by observing them as individuals rather than just species.
BirdNote®
Slowing Down and Observing Female Birds
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
The colorful feathers and loud songs of male songbirds often catch a birder’s attention first. Observing females often means birding more slowly, noticing subtle differences in plumage and behavior, says Joanna Wu. She’s part of a group called the Galbatrosses. They’re encouraging birders to spend more time identifying female birds.
[Chestnut-sided Warbler female song, ML 161647301, 2:19-2:21]
Joanna Wu: It slows things down dramatically, and all of us Galbatrosses have experienced taking twenty minutes to identify a single bird.
Many female warblers are shades of greenish yellow, making it tricky to figure out which species they are. But Joanna says the bird’s behavior can give her clues.
Joanna Wu: Now I try to go out and see if I can find its mate, because oftentimes they are calling to each other. And then that will help me figure out who the bird is.
[Chestnut-sided Warbler female song, ML 161647301, 2:35-2:37]
Fellow Galbatross Purbita Saha says that watching for females can help us understand birds on a deeper level.
Purbita Saha: I would say it's made us see birds as individuals, rather than just species. So because we're looking at each bird's behavior, or how they're communicating with each other. You just realize that each bird even among a flock has different personalities. Each bird is unique, and each bird has something to teach us.
By listening and watching carefully, birders can learn more about female birds, and they can share that knowledge with the Galbatrosses, who are compiling people’s notes on female bird ID. Learn more on our website, BirdNote dot ORG. I’m Ariana Remmel.
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Senior Producer: John Kessler
Content Director: Allison Wilson
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Chestnut-sided Warbler ML 161647301 recorded by B. Walker.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2022 BirdNote July 2022 Narrator: Ariana Remmel
ID# femalebirds-01-2022-07-06 femalebirds-01
Conor Gearin
Writer