White-Necked Jacobins (Females)
Perhaps there is no creature that better represents “girl power” in the animal kingdom better than the White-Necked Jacobin. Females in this species have a difficult time, often because the males seem to have access to food sources that the females do not. This is due to the lack of respect for females among males, resulting in simply not allowing females to access these sources. Moreover, the females are harassed by the males. Is this starting to sound familiar, ladies? This hummingbird species is known for picking fights and fiercely defending its food sources. They’ll even do this to the death if they have to.
Male Jacobins will also claim territories prime for breeding, and do not mind trespassing females but will react to them through bully tactics. Females tend to look greenish with a gray-dabbled chest while males will have a flashy blue and white plumage. All females start out looking like adult males, but as they age, at least 80% shift into drab plumage. Yet the 20% that do not keep the male-like plumage, resulting in less social harassment from males. To test this, scientists used taxidermied mounts of Jacobins among living ones. The decoys with male coloration faced fewer problems than female-colored decoys, explaining why females do this.