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 sixth 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.
Long-tailed duck (male)
Long-tailed Duck (female) photo: John Burns
Female Hairy Woodpecker does not have red on the back of the head.
Hairy Woodpecker (female) photo: wikimedia
Hairy woodpecker (photo: Ian Valentine) male
Scarlet Tanager (female) photo: wikimedia
Scarlet Tanager (male) photo: Ken Sproule
Bufflehead (female)
Bufflehead (male)
In Belted Kingfisher, only the female has a rusty side patch.
Belted Kingfisher (female) Photo: Ken Sproule
Belted Kingfisher (male)
Miles Hearn