Online Class: Demystifying Female Birds

TreeSong Nature Awareness and Retreat Center will host an online birding class from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Aug. 5.

In many bird species, the sexes look pretty much the same to us: think sparrows, wrens, crows, jays, herons, gulls, most hawks, and more. And in the species that do look different, females often sport plain plumage designed to keep them camouflaged on the nest. Thus our eye is drawn to the flashy male and we write off the female as “hard to ID” or “confusing,” or we think “just look for the male to figure out who she is.”

Longtime birder and teacher Laura Whittemore will lead this class to study female birds on their own terms, not in comparison to male representatives of the species. Attendees will take a look at several western North American species of finch, grosbeak, woodpecker, hummingbird, duck, hawk, and maybe a few surprises.

Registration fees are on a sliding scale from $10 to $20. For more information or to register online, visit www.treesongnatureawareness.org.