Nancy,

Quite a few female Red-winged Blackbirds have reddish throats, including in this region. I don't know if they are territorially dominant to other females or if there is any other advantage in that color, but it is widely present in a small proportion of females. Looking at a tray full of female redwing specimens from Washington in the Slater Museum right now, I see around 10-15% of the females have pinkish to reddish throats.

Dennis Paulson
Seattle


> On 05/23/2022 8:03 AM Nancy Morrison <weedsrus1 at gmail.com> wrote:

>

>

> I photographed a female Red-winged Blackbird at the north end of Lake Washington with unusual coloration. She had a very orange chin and line above the eye. I would love some information about this bird. Is it common here? Is it the California Bicolor? I am including a link to my Facebook page. Thank you!

>

> https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10229058142459637&set=a.1154773350921

>

> Nancy Morrison

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