Sex and gender are tricky topics these days. And lord knows, I don’t claim to have a complete grasp - but, honestly, I try. So let’s remember that this is a bird blog, and we are talking about birds, which is another subject of which I lack a complete grasp, but, here too, I try.

So as I understand it, the way that birds look and behave is a product of natural selection (evolution) and is centered on reproduction (survival of the species). So far as I know, vanity and fashion trends and even beauty are not involved. However, as I muddle along at becoming a better birder, I am struck by how frequently my mental image of certain species of birds is the male of that species. Cardinals are bright red, the spring time goldfinch is bright yellow, and eastern bluebirds are, well, quite blue. Even the striking blue jays I think of as male knowing that they are one species in which the males and females look alike. As one learns to identify birds by their appearance or their songs, the focus seems to fall naturally on male birds. The females are “harder.” But why should that be?

Colorful plumage, boisterous singing, and extravagant behavior has developed for the males to attract a mate. But really, the important point is the obverse - it is for the female to recognize a male that is strong, well-fed, and likely to contribute to healthy nestlings. It may also be that the duller plumage in many female birds makes them less apparent to predators when they begin to carry and then incubate those priceless eggs.

So today I have selected a few photos of female birds that have struck me as stunning and beautiful in perhaps more subtle ways than their male counterparts. I have to remind myself that what is beautiful to me, a human, is merely one of the ways in which a species has found to survive. And I have decided to begin to better recognize and appreciate the females.