It's #FemaleBirdDay, May 29-31. You can participate!

Off to a good start counting female birds for #FemaleBirdDayBird this weekend, any day from May 29-31. Female Eastern Bluebird hunts from our deck in rain, at feeders are a female Downy Woodpecker (she has white and black on the back of the head, no red patch), and female American Goldfinch on right. This event is to gain scientific knowledge of female birds, who are less studied than males. You can participate here by counting female birds, use ID clues and behavior,

https://femalebirdday.wordpress.com/

Started by a group of scientists and birders associated with the National Audubon Society, The Galbatross Project wants you to focus solely on females as you bird under your local shelter-in-place rules. Challenge yourself to use behavior, vocalizations, and other sex-specific clues to ID species. Then tell us about the techniques you used." Submit your findings and the techniques you used to identify female birds, here https://femalebirdday.wordpress.com/

They say, "As birders and ornithologists, we assume that many female birds are duller, quieter, and less behaviorally complex and interesting than their counterparts. But recent science has exposed the myth behind this idea...for example, female birdsong is both common and critical in evolution. Recent fieldwork has shown this to be true in passerines like Cerulean Warblers. But we still have a lot of work left to do to change the skew in birding and ornithological practice. Part of that includes growing our literacy around female birds—and that’s where this event comes in."