The females are so tricky and look just like sparrows, it really throws me off too. I can’t think of another instance where a common bird has such huge sexual dimorphism.
It’s an interesting problem in bird names. Many species have eponymous names, where they’re named after somebody who put them into a book. With those you’re stuck with situations like “what does a Wilson’s Warbler look like?”, where it would be so much easier if they were called a “black-capped yellow warbler. But then you have the same problem as the Red-winged blackbird where the name really throws you off for the female, and it might be better if they were called something like “marsh blackbird”.
The females are so tricky and look just like sparrows, it really throws me off too. I can’t think of another instance where a common bird has such huge sexual dimorphism.
It’s an interesting problem in bird names. Many species have eponymous names, where they’re named after somebody who put them into a book. With those you’re stuck with situations like “what does a Wilson’s Warbler look like?”, where it would be so much easier if they were called a “black-capped yellow warbler. But then you have the same problem as the Red-winged blackbird where the name really throws you off for the female, and it might be better if they were called something like “marsh blackbird”.