{"id":134743,"date":"2024-09-18T02:54:37","date_gmt":"2024-09-18T07:54:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=134743"},"modified":"2025-07-07T13:00:45","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T18:00:45","slug":"immature-female-northern-cardinal-in-arkansas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/09\/18\/immature-female-northern-cardinal-in-arkansas\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature Female Northern Cardinal In Arkansas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several weeks ago, I shared images of a young male cardinal. Today, I thought it was about time to put an immature female Northern Cardinal in the spotlight.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature female Northern Cardinal\u2013 Canon R7, f8, 1\/2000, ISO 800, Canon 100-400mm at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I took photos of this immature female cardinal four days ago. She came to the sunflower seed feeder and perched above it on a vine.<\/p>\n

I know she isn\u2019t a young male because, by now, the young males have some red feathers on their heads, necks, bellies, or flanks. She doesn\u2019t have red feathers in those areas.<\/p>\n

Her bill is starting to change from the dark gray it was when she was younger, hints of orange are already showing on her bill.<\/p>\n

Female cardinals, whether young or adult, are not as flashy and bright as the males of this species. That is a fact. But I find them to be every bit as appealing as the males and just as much fun to photograph. I simply can’t imagine getting bored with them as subjects.<\/p>\n

To be clear, I don’t get bored with any birds as subjects, even the abundant species. Do I enjoy photographing species that are new to me? You bet I do. I love them all.<\/p>\n

It might sound weird, given that most birds are flighted, but birds ground me. By that, I mean no matter what craziness is going on in my life or this country, birds center me, they make me focus on them, and they bring me peace.<\/p>\n

I went a long time without seeing or photographing Northern Cardinals<\/span><\/a>, and I\u2019m delighted to have them in my viewfinder now. Hearing<\/span><\/a> the cardinals is also wonderful.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Several weeks ago, I shared images of a young male cardinal. Today, I thought it was about time to put an immature female Northern Cardinal in the spotlight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":134740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13950,27,10269,13951],"tags":[4897,14199,14197,14200,13981,4070,13931,4067,14198,4104,2315,8018,11722,13966,4193],"class_list":["post-134743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-avian","category-northern-cardinals","category-sebastian-county","tag-branch","tag-cardinal","tag-cardinalis-cardinalis","tag-cardinals","tag-feeder","tag-female","tag-garden","tag-immature","tag-northern-cardinal","tag-perched","tag-summer-3","tag-urban","tag-vine","tag-yard","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/northern-cardinal-immature-female-mia-mcpherson-1154.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-z3h","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":132899,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/08\/22\/molting-young-northern-cardinal-male\/","url_meta":{"origin":134743,"position":0},"title":"Molting Young Northern Cardinal Male","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 22, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young male Northern Cardinal molting, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/northern-cardinal-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-4185.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/northern-cardinal-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-4185.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/northern-cardinal-immature-male-mia-mcpherson-4185.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/northern-cardinal-immmature-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-7837.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/northern-cardinal-immmature-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-7837.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/northern-cardinal-immmature-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-7837.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/northern-cardinal-immmature-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-7837.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":140381,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/02\/20\/winter-male-purple-finch-images-plus-a-fun-bonus-photo\/","url_meta":{"origin":134743,"position":2},"title":"Winter Male Purple Finch Images Plus A Fun Bonus Photo","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"After the sleet, ice, and snow from the recent winter storm, I was thrilled to have a Purple Finch in my viewfinder for a bit\u2014even though it was bitter cold.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Purple Finch after a snowstorm, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/purple-finch-male-snow-mia-mcpherson-3964.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/purple-finch-male-snow-mia-mcpherson-3964.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/northern-cardinal-adult-snow-male-mia-mcpherson-0635.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/northern-cardinal-adult-snow-male-mia-mcpherson-0635.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/northern-cardinal-adult-snow-male-mia-mcpherson-0635.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/northern-cardinal-adult-snow-male-mia-mcpherson-0635.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":138354,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/12\/31\/spring-and-winter-male-northern-cardinal-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":134743,"position":4},"title":"Spring And Winter Male Northern Cardinal Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I'm sharing images of a male Northern Cardinal taken in the same oak tree here in Arkansas during different seasons: spring and winter.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Winter adult male Northern Cardinal in an oak tree, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/northern-cardinal-adult-male-winter-mia-mcpherson-0927.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/northern-cardinal-adult-male-winter-mia-mcpherson-0927.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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