The female Red-winged Blackbird looks little like the male. Where the male is black with red and yellow patches, the female is brown with lighter and darker streaks. The female is beautiful in her own right, but being so markedly different from the male wasn't something I expected the first I ever saw one. I thought "in her own right" summed it up well. It means she doesn't have to depend on the male for her beauty and distinction. More evidence of intelligence in nature!
Red-wing Blackbird Color Pattern (from All About Birds, The Cornell Lab of Orthinology)
"Male Red-winged Blackbirds are hard to mistake. They're an even glossy black with red-and-yellow shoulder badges. Females are crisply streaked and dark brownish overall, paler on the breast and often show a whitish eyebrow."
