Cardinals Outside The Window
Can you tell which one is the female cardinal and which one is the juvenile cardinal in the photo below?
The cardinals in my neighborhood had two broods this summer. As soon as the first young were out of the nest and feeding, they started courting right away and laid a second set of eggs. The young from the second nesting are just now leaving the nest and the adults are bringing them around to our feeder. I was just telling Non Birding Bill this morning over breakfast that after all the work this week, I could really use some time to go out digiscoping and as soon as I looked out the window, these two perched on one of the wires in the alley.
This is the juvenile cardinal alone on the wire--it looks so dejected now that the female flew away and isn't feeding it. An easy way to tell them apart is that the female as the bright orange bill and the juveniles have the black bill. Soon the juveniles will molt into their adult plumage--they they'll really go through that awkward phase.
The cardinals in my neighborhood had two broods this summer. As soon as the first young were out of the nest and feeding, they started courting right away and laid a second set of eggs. The young from the second nesting are just now leaving the nest and the adults are bringing them around to our feeder. I was just telling Non Birding Bill this morning over breakfast that after all the work this week, I could really use some time to go out digiscoping and as soon as I looked out the window, these two perched on one of the wires in the alley.
This is the juvenile cardinal alone on the wire--it looks so dejected now that the female flew away and isn't feeding it. An easy way to tell them apart is that the female as the bright orange bill and the juveniles have the black bill. Soon the juveniles will molt into their adult plumage--they they'll really go through that awkward phase.Labels: digiscoping
posted by birdchick at 8:22 PM
5 Comments:
HEY! i guess i'm learning something... that was my guess since the other was full of color and a colored beak i guessed it was the female adult! very cool
Our young cardinals are in that awkward phase - and from the body language I see while they're eating outside my window, they must realize it. They kind of hunker down, while the adults stand tall.
Slouchy posture in youngsters seems to be universal :-D
I guessed correctly too, because of the bills! Woo hoo!
I was so glad to read this, as I wasn't sure what all the rambunctious cardinal activity was all about in the feeder outside my window. I assumed mid-September was too late to be looking at juvenile birds, but voila, now I know that that's who these two are. There are two juveniles begging loudly and being fed by both a female (most often) AND a male. Cardinal family values. I'm in eastern Kansas, but a native of Minneapolis, so cheers to you, Minnesota Birdchick.
Thanks, AuthorAuthor, and your user id is the title of one of my favorite movies.
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