{"id":132899,"date":"2024-08-22T02:59:37","date_gmt":"2024-08-22T07:59:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=132899"},"modified":"2024-08-22T03:03:36","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T08:03:36","slug":"molting-young-northern-cardinal-male","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/08\/22\/molting-young-northern-cardinal-male\/","title":{"rendered":"Molting Young Northern Cardinal Male"},"content":{"rendered":"

While I photographed this young Northern Cardinal that is molting, I had to chuckle to myself. I know he looks messy, but he also seems kind of endearing to me.<\/p>\n

\"MoltingMolting young Northern Cardinal male \u2013 Canon R7, f8, 1\/400, ISO 1250, +0.3 EV, Canon 100-400mm at 349mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The messy part is understandable; molting doesn\u2019t look all that pretty, even on the most beautiful birds. The endearing part? Well, that\u2019s purely subjective on my part.<\/p>\n

Besides, I photograph birds even when they aren\u2019t looking their best because I love all birds, even the ones that others might find unattractive.<\/p>\n

For instance, this messy, molting young bird will soon be scarlet red with a gorgeous crest and a dark mask extending from over his bill to his eyes and chin. He will be every bit as striking as his male parent.<\/p>\n

He’ll soon be a handsome red bird with more than two long feathers in his crest.<\/p>\n

\"YoungYoung male Northern Cardinal molting \u2013 Canon R7, f8, 1\/400, ISO 1250, +0.3 EV, Canon 100-400mm at 349mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

You might be wondering how I know that this is a young male and not an adult male that is molting.<\/p>\n

Young Northern Cardinals of both sexes have dark grayish bills. Adult males have reddish bills, while females have more orangish bills.<\/p>\n

As this young male molts, his dark bill is just starting to turn red. I know he is a male because the females of this species don\u2019t have red feathers on their throats or bellies like this bird does.<\/p>\n

Regretfully, I didn’t get to photograph any freshly fledged Northern Cardinals<\/span><\/a> this breeding season, but I am hopeful that next year I will have the opportunity.<\/p>\n

I am extremely grateful that I’ve had the chance to photograph several teen-aged cardinals this summer.<\/p>\n

Grateful indeed.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to see more of my Northern Cardinal photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While I photographed this young Northern Cardinal that is molting, I had to chuckle to myself. I know he looks messy, but he also seems kind of endearing to me. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":132891,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13950,27,10269,13951],"tags":[14199,14197,14200,13931,4067,4062,2312,2313,14198,4104,2315,8018,13966,4193],"class_list":["post-132899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-avian","category-northern-cardinals","category-sebastian-county","tag-cardinal","tag-cardinalis-cardinalis","tag-cardinals","tag-garden","tag-immature","tag-male","tag-molt","tag-molting","tag-northern-cardinal","tag-perched","tag-summer-3","tag-urban","tag-yard","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t