In many bird species, males and females look alike. In Antarctica, I once heard a tourist ask one of our naturalists how to differentiate male penguins from females. His response: If you see it lay an egg, it is a female. In other words, they all look alike.

In this the second of 6 posts, I will show various bird species, all of which have been spotted on my Toronto area nature walks over the years, in which the female and the male do NOT look alike.

Greater Scaup (female) photo: wikimedia

Greater Scaup (male)

Goldfinch male and female look alike during the non-breeding season but the male takes its characteristic gold colour during the breeding season.

American goldfinch: male (left) and female (right)

Wood Duck (female)

Wood Duck (male)

Female Brown-headed Cowbirds are blackish-gray, with the amount of black varying considerably.

Brown-headed Cowbird (female) photo: wikimedia

Cowbird (male) Photo: Ken Sproule

Northern Cardinal (female) photo: wikipedia

Northern Cardinal (male)

Miles Hearn