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Posted: 7/20/2008 12:36:46 PM EDT
This Cardinal has been around since at least last year, but never got a decent picture of him until today. I've never seen a bald bird in the wild. I figure he was sick last year and would die, but apparently he's still going strong. Maybe I could get him a bolt face hat to keep the sun off his head. Do the come in XXXXXXS?
 Here's a high res picture of it. Found this little guy in the backyard too. Kids had a good time checking him out. He's next on a cherry tomato plant for size comparison.  
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Posted: 7/20/2008 12:37:48 PM EDT
[#1]
Those are some cool pics.
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Posted: 7/20/2008 12:38:22 PM EDT
[#2]
praying mantis ftw. luv thse lil guys.
ps.. the bird is creepy |
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Posted: 7/20/2008 12:40:51 PM EDT
[#3]
Mini Condor?
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Posted: 7/20/2008 12:41:19 PM EDT
[#4]
0
Food is still alive. |
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Posted: 7/20/2008 12:43:16 PM EDT
[#5]
Opossums!
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Posted: 7/20/2008 12:44:01 PM EDT
[#6]
  We get the bald cardinals too. What happens is they natually molt in the summer of course, and ideally a few feathers fall out, a few feathers grow in. It's hormonally controlled. For some reason, the cardinals more than other birds have a problem with all of the feathers falling out at once on their heads. I wonder if its not from all of the artificial birth control hormones excreted out into our water system, or something like that causes it, but we will never know if this is a strictly modern phenomenon or not. They seem to recuperate just fine, but they sure are pathetic looking for a while. Thanks for the cool pics! |
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Posted: 7/20/2008 12:44:41 PM EDT
[#7]
WTF is up with that bird?
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Posted: 7/20/2008 12:46:10 PM EDT
[#8]
I had a cardinal in my backyard with white feathers on his head (and balding some)
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Posted: 7/20/2008 12:47:56 PM EDT
[#9]
His mommy f'd a vulture.
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Posted: 7/20/2008 12:48:19 PM EDT
[#10]
interracial affair between a turkey vulture and cardinal?
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Posted: 7/20/2008 12:49:18 PM EDT
[#11]
you owe me a beer!!! 
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Posted: 7/20/2008 12:57:30 PM EDT
[#12]
Huh, I didn't know that. Looks like he's got something nasty growing on the base of his neck too. |
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Posted: 7/20/2008 1:02:35 PM EDT
[#13]
think there's a market for rogaine for birds?
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Posted: 7/20/2008 1:05:11 PM EDT
[#14]
I'm pretty sure that is a zombie cardinal. You know what must be done.
Do provide a range report, as I have seen no empirical data on the round most appropriate for zombie cardinals and need this information posthaste for my future purchases, now that I have been made aware of this most significant threat. Thanks! |
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Posted: 7/20/2008 1:10:36 PM EDT
[#15]
Hmm, there may be something to that "optical inch" stuff. That bird does look taller!
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Posted: 7/20/2008 1:39:01 PM EDT
[#16]
Do yall know that a praying mantis can kill a hummingbird? I had read about this in a birding magazine probably 20 years ago but didn't believe it. Until I found about a 4 inch long praying mantis on the feeder holding a hummingbird by the head and it was eating the brain. Since then I kill every one I see near a feeder.
leroy |
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Posted: 7/20/2008 1:39:09 PM EDT
[#17]
I read that somewhere, about cardinals having problems with the sudden molting syndrome more than other birds. And sure enough, we see it from time to time, on cardinals and not other birds. Maybe its normal for them, or within the normal range of the molting cycle bell curve. Seems like their brains would cook in there. I pulled up the high res version of the pic, and what we may be seeing on his neck is the growth of the down feathers. Hard to tell. Either he'll make it or he won't. One thing about birds, is they don't linger around suffering. They either thrive or die, with no inbetween for most of them. 
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Posted: 7/20/2008 2:13:19 PM EDT
[#18]
There's a bunch of youtube videos that show them eating a humming birds. Those little guys are cold. They eat their prey while it is still alive. |
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Posted: 7/20/2008 2:21:57 PM EDT
[#19]
It's the new bird defense mechanism against DK Prof. Make themselves look like Condors--no one wants to risk having sex with an endangered species.
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Posted: 7/22/2008 5:41:33 PM EDT
[#20]
Check this web page, then kill it with fire: www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek030701.html About bird mites: birdmites.org/research.html |
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