My life was much simpler before I started to photograph birds. I naively assumed that all Red-winged Blackbirds were black and had red wings. There is no way in the world that I would have even guessed that the bird in this photograph is a female Red-winged Blackbird, but I know now that’s what it is.
With experience comes wisdom, perhaps, but I generally feel more confused than wise when it comes to identifying birds. There are so many variables to consider, including the geographic location, the time of the year, the age of the bird, and, of course, its gender. Sure, there are lots of resources available over which to pore, but I’m often left with a certain degree of uncertainty about a bird’s identification. Apparently I am not alone, because I have overheard heated discussions among experience birds trying to identify a distant bird that they can barely see in their spotting scopes.
Female Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) are amazingly beautiful and I would love to feature them more often in this blog, but I find them to be unusually difficult to photograph. Unlike their male counterparts, who are visible and vocal to the point of being a bit obnoxious, the females tend to spend their time pecking about industriously in the undergrowth, rarely coming out into the open.
I was pleased to be able to get this mostly unobstructed shot of this female blackbird recently as she was singing in the rain. If you look closely, you can see a series of raindrops beading up on her back. Other birds may have been seeking shelter from the rain, but she kept working.
As the foliage reappears on the trees and bushes, it’s going to get tougher and tougher for me to spot birds. I’ll still be trying to photograph them for a while longer until I switch to macro mode and focus more on insects and flowers, which have their own identification challenges.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Great capture. We share the same issues. Identification is hard.
Those females drove me to the bird books for a long time trying to figure out what she was. Now I got it! 🙂
I recall when I made this same discovery about the female RWBB! The same holds true for so many females who are not only less ‘flamboyant’ but whose coloring is also entirely different than the males. . . . I’ve often been surprised to learn who they are.
Names can be deceptive. I have a friend who has a Chinese last name following her marriage and people are often surprised when they meet her for the first time to see that she is not at all Asian in her appearance.
I love the way the lines of the twigs and branches echo her shape. Nice photo!
What you say about the difficulty in identifying birds is even more true for insects, which often pass through different-looking stages and in addition sometimes take variant forms. It’s a complex world out there.
Sometimes it’s easier, Steve, for me to just make up my own names. It’s fun to do so and a lot less frustrating than trying to find the true names (which often make no sense at all).
In so many ways life was less complicated before photography … but so less rewarding. Is that a coincidence – not likely.
I agree Mike. I have enough trouble with plants, but at least they don’t fly away.
It has been such a learning experience for me as well, Mike! And I have a lot of made-up names for those I can’t find a positive ID for… part of the fun, and the challenge. If it was easy it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun to try to get those elusive bird shots. Carol
Two halves of a meaningful whole…words and music…your photograph and your insight…in sight.
Thanks so much, Bonnie, for your beautiful response. I keep reading and re-reading it–it’s magical.
I really like your concept of making up your own names. You should start a contest each week. How about a brown-and-white-winged brown-and-white bird?
I’ll take anything I can get.. 😉
I keep my 3 lenses handy at all times, if no birds there is always flowers and bugs. great shot too.. 🙂