Science Times: Why ‘the most misunderstood birds in North America’ are female

The overlooked female birds, tips for avian gardeners, and a preview of the Times Climate Event

View in browser|nytimes.com Continue reading the main story September 15, 2023 Welcome to a special birding edition of the Science Times newsletter, which will land in your inbox every Friday through September. A female Northern Cardinal. A study of five prominent natural history museums found that their avian collections skewed heavily toward male specimens.  Julio Cortez/Associated Press By Anna Diamond Every Memorial Day weekend since 2020, the five members of the Galbatross Project have hosted Female Bird Day to encourage birders to identify, appreciate and collect data on what they call the "most misunderstood birds in North America." "Humans are visual creatures," said Joanna Wu, a doctoral student in the ecology and evolutionary biology program at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a member of the Galbatross Project. "We are attracted to things that are bright. In North America, that tends to be male birds." Half of all birds are females, yet they have long been overlooked in ornithology. A study of five prominent natural history museums, including the American Museum of Natural History in New York and London's Natural History Museum, found that their avian collections skewed heavily toward male specimens. In a 2018 article Kenn Kaufman, a field editor for Audubon Magazine, wrote that "an unconscious bias against female birds is widespread in birding," and described his own efforts to correct his partiality. Scientists are beginning to realize what they've been missing. For instance, female birds were long assumed to rarely sing. This notion likely grew out of a longstanding focus on birds of North America, where female birds do tend to sing less than males. But, in the 1990s, researchers turned their attention to the tropics and found that female birds there were prolific singers. Karan Odom, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Maryland, College Park, is one of the leaders of the Female Bird Song Project, which asks birders to observe and record female birds singing. She has found "evidence that a lot of species have female song and that it is probably more the norm, rather than the exception, and that it's probably ancestral," she said. "Almost every year, I feel like there's another species or two or three that somebody tells me about with female song," Dr. Odom said. It helps that ornithology is diversifying, she added, as there is "some evidence that women researchers are more likely to study female bird song." The idea for the Galbatross Project took shape in 2019, after a few colleagues at the National Audubon Society participated in the World Series of Birding in New Jersey and decided to count only female birds for their competition list. They finished second to last with just 31 female bird species identified, but they were invigorated by the experience and determined to get other birders to widen their focus. Their annual Female Bird Day promotes in-person walks and events, but it is primarily an online event built around a hashtag, #FemaleBirdDay, for participants to share photos and facts on social media. Members of the Galbatross Project also give talks at birding organizations explaining why identifying female birds is important and how to do so. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Because male and female birds often have very different domains and behaviors, a better understanding of females can benefit conservation efforts, said Ruth Bennett, an ecologist at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's Migratory Bird Center. Dr. Bennett, whose research was one inspiration for the Galbatross Project, made the connection while studying golden-winged warblers, which overwinter in Honduras. She found that the female warblers were forced out of higher quality habitats by territorial males and congregated in areas disrupted by development. The female warblers suffered habitat loss at twice the rate of their male counterparts, Dr. Bennett and her colleagues found. When they surveyed conservation plans for 66 North American migratory land birds, only 8 percent of the recommendations actually took sexual segregation into account. Positively identifying females can require a full-fledged bird detective. Some bird species display very clear differences between the sexes — the male cardinal is bright red, while the female is closer to brown — but many others require close attention to things like the color of the bill or how the nest is built. Timing can also be a useful clue for birders: In some migratory species, the female birds migrate later in the spring than the males do. Ms. Wu encouraged birders to embrace the challenge of identifying female birds. "You get to know the birds so intimately, too," she said. "You have to know their life cycle, when they reproduce, what they're up to." Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT For developing your female birding skills, Purbita Saha, a member of the project and an editor at Popular Science, recommends starting with just a handful of common nearby species and learning as many details as possible about those females. One resource is the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's All About Birds website. "If you're not looking out for female birds, you're only getting half of the picture," she said. BIRDS IN THE NEWS Dhamirah Coombes, via Flock Together Science Times There's a Birding Group for Everyone Birding with other people could provide a sense of belonging or teach you things you didn't know, no matter how experienced you are. By Camille Baker Jia-En Ho How Sketching Birds Changes the Way You See Them Readers shared their drawings and explained how it changed the way they observe birds. By The New York Times Larry Steagall/Kitsap Sun, via Associated Press What Wildfire Smoke Means for Birds Avian species are "especially vulnerable," scientists say. By Emily Anthes Chat with us about birds and climate change Join us on Friday, Sept. 14 — today! — on Slack, the messaging platform, to talk birds and climate with Times reporters, fellow birders and scientists from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. The chat is the latest in a series of daily group conversations The Times is hosting ahead of our Climate Forward event on Sept. 21, featuring conversations with world leaders, artists and innovators about the solutions needed for a warming world. Register here for the free livestream and Slack information. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Teaching Resource 8 Ways to Bring Birds and Birding Into Your Classroom Look closely. Listen carefully. Ask questions. Gather data. Bird-watching helps students build essential academic skills and connect with the natural world. By Michael Gonchar and Katherine Schulten Create a bird-friendly garden Goldfinches, a male and a female, enjoying the zinnias in a garden in Illinois. Richard & Susan Day/Danita Delimont, via Alamy By Jim Colgan At the outset of the Times birding project, we asked participants what they most wanted to know about birds. The most common question we received: How do you make a yard appealing to birds? We invited Kim Eierman, an ecological landscape designer based just outside New York City, to share some tips. Ms. Eierman, the founder of EcoBeneficial, a horticulture consultancy, teaches at the New York Botanical Garden and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, among other places, and will be leading a discussion on the topic at the Climate Forward event. Start by with thinking of your landscape as an ecosystem, not just a garden, Ms. Eierman says. In her view, conventional lawns — "green deserts" — and nonnative plant species have no place in that system. Instead, focus on what she calls "the big four for birds": nesting sites, cover, natural food sources and clean water. Read more of Ms. Eierman's other recommendations. Sign up for the Climate Forward newsletter, for Times subscribers only. News and insights for a warming world. Get it in your inbox Continue reading the main story Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Science Times from The New York Times. To stop receiving Science Times, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018