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Illustrations on material the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) gives out in hides to twitchers will be updated. It is argued the smaller pictures used for female birds is sexist.

As Daily Star on Sunday reports Dr Mya-Rose Craig, from Compton Martin, Somerset, pointed out the row on Twitter.

The 19-year-old woman posted: “If you aren’t into nature, you won’t know that when you go into bird watching hides there are often posters up to help you with bird ID.

“But why are the female birds always shown as a smaller picture insert? #sexisminbirding? We need a revolution.”

And now Bristol Post reports RSPB has admitted it must “do better”.

A spokesman said: “It is a fair point and we must do better.

“We’re pleased Mya-Rose brought this to our attention and will be reviewing these posters with our team internally.”

Hundreds of people agreed with Dr Mya-Rose Craig on social media last week.

One said: “Completely agree. Also, can we do away with the habit of describing (for example) a male blackbird as a ‘blackbird’ while the female is always ‘a female blackbird’.

“Like the male is default while the female is some kind of variation. No thanks.”

Another said: “This is such a great point to raise.

“Especially given the plumage differences are often more subtle and so harder to distinguish – larger images would actually really help to ID.”

Dr Mya-Rose Craig is the youngest person in the UK to receive an honorary degree, awarded by University of Bristol.

In August 2019, she became the youngest person in the world to see half the world’s birds – that’s 5,369 in total.

Founded in 1889 in Manchester, RSPB promotes conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment.

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