Discover female finches...

It is easy in birdwatching to be seduced by the pretty colours of male birds and ignore the less spectacular females. If you hear someone say the name of a bird, you may instantly picture the breeding male. But there is much more to birding than just pretty males. To try to redress the balance a little, here, for starters, are a few females of four familiar finch species. All are very toned down compared to the gaudy males of their kind, but just because they are relatively dowdy does mean they are not worth watching (and their plumages not worth learning).