Bird Watching

[Lee Schierer]

I was watching the birds at our feeder yesterday morning when I first saw this guy. I got my camera and finally late in the afternoon, I was able to snap a couple of pictures. The photo quality isn't the best, but he would fly away anytime I got close to the window.
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I have no idea whether this is just an old bird, has some sort of disease or if he ran into something. If you look closely you can also see that his upper beak is chipped. He seems to fly okay and the other cardinals we have don't seem to bother him.

[Rudy Ress]

Looks like a male cardinal that is loosing some head feathers. The other photo shows both the male and female cardinal.

[David Weaver]

It looks like he's lost a fight for territory or something. Though I can't imagine cardinals being able to chip each others' beaks. Maybe he flew into a window.

[Matt Marsh]

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/Abo.../BaldBirds.htm

[Matt Marsh]

I think it's probably mites. The reason that the head is the only place affected, is that it's the only place on its body that it cannot preen.

http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~insrisg...baldbirds.html

[Lee Schierer]

Looks like a male cardinal that is loosing some head feathers. The other photo shows both the male and female cardinal.

Actually both photos are of the same bird taken a few seconds apart. It is a male cardinal less head feathers.

[David Weaver]

Is bird #2 a cardinal, or is it a purple finch?

[Jim Rimmer]

Photo 2 looks like he may have been plinked at with a BB or pellet gun. Or maybe he just had rough Saturday night.

[Sam Murdoch]

Maybe he just goes to the same the same salon

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[Paul Saffold]

The second bird in the second picture looks like a female cardinal.

The male looks like he just go back from New Orleans' Marti Gras.

[Bill Cunningham]

Could be a Zombie Cardinal Don't let it bite you!

[David Weaver]

I think the second one is definitely a purple finch (or a similar kind of finch), only because the wings of a cardinal don't look like that. Females have less white on their wings, and sometimes (always?) red coloration at the edges.

Purple finches and cardinals have the same-looking beaks.

I am no bird watcher, but recall as a kid that there were 5 purple finches (or more) for every bird you wanted to see at my dad's feeders, and he always groaned about purple finches and blue jays.

Female cardinals often hang back or walk on the ground, as the males deliver food to the females as a courtship thing.

They also have an orangish beak that matches the males.

[Lee Schierer]

Is bird #2 a cardinal, or is it a purple finch?

It is a male cardinal, no purple finches were involved with these photos. Both photos are of exactly the same bird a male cardinal missing all head feathers. The photos were taken 5 seconds apart.

We do get house finches, but they were not around when these photos were taken.

[Paul Saffold]

Lee, I believe it is the second bird in the second picture that is being questioned. Just to the right of the male cardinal.
I believe it is a female cardinal, others believe it is a finch.

David, purple finches are not very common anymore, but house finches, which look similar, the males both have red, are more common.

[Jim Becker]

Yea, a male cardinal with an issue...could be mites or some other affliction. Or maybe a fight with another bird.