Bald headed Northern Cardinals (1 Viewer)

A

aaron1956

aaron1956

• Jun 25, 2014

• #1

I took these photos yesterday and today at the same location, Goose Island State Park in Rockport, Texas. This park is on the lower Tx coast.
When I first saw these I thought they were Pyrrhuloxia, as I have never seen one before and cardinals are very common. After doing a little research I found out they are indeed Northern Cardinals and this has been observed quite often.
I will try to attach a link I found also.

http://www.farmanddairy.com/columns...tery-of-what-causes-bald-cardinals/15565.html

Have any of you ever encountered this?

Attached are photos of a male and a female.

 

Attachments

• 
  Bald Cardinal 101.jpg

  375.3 KB · Views: 53
• 
  mini-Cardinal034.jpg

  169.1 KB · Views: 44

Bird_Bill

Well-known member

• Jun 25, 2014

• #2

Have seen and photographed Northern Cardinals like that. Both in the wild and in the yard. Also Blue Jays, that I know which DVD it's archived on. Something consistent seems to be the time frame that drives my experience. Cardinals showing the bald heads roughly now, or mid June to mid July. Blue Jays seeming to show symptoms in August. Both suggesting molt more than feather mites, in my mind. Have no other evidence. Below is one Blue Jay that turned up. Felt sorry for it, put out just a few peanuts for it.

 

Attachments

• 
  Bald Blue Jay.jpg

  73.8 KB · Views: 55

A

aaron1956

aaron1956

• Jun 25, 2014

• #3

Both of these seemed to be perfectly healthy as far as I could tell. There were also several more "normal" cardinals in the same area. It sure compromises the looks of an otherwise beautiful bird. I hope they recover.
Thanks for the reply Bird_Bill.

 

Bird_Bill

Well-known member

• Jun 25, 2014

• #4

aaron1956 said:

Both of these seemed to be perfectly healthy as far as I could tell. There were also several more "normal" cardinals in the same area. It sure compromises the looks of an otherwise beautiful bird. I hope they recover.
Thanks for the reply Bird_Bill.

Click to expand...

Yes, noticed the same in every instance, the birds seem robust & healthy otherwise.
Nor have I seen it every year. That seems to suggest a lice/mite infection.

 

L

Larryq22

Member

• Oct 2, 2014

• #5

This is normal and is seldom a tragedy. If it happens later in the summer, it's usually associated with molting of head feathers (birds molt differently). If it happens earlier, it's likely mites. In either case, the feathers grow back successfully. The bird may be shy for a while, or not have as much energy as its feathers re-grow. Don't worry if you don't see it.

 

M

Maljunulo

Well-known member

• Oct 3, 2014

• #6

I have seen this with Blue Jays, but don't recall it in Cardinals.

 

S

stonechat1

New member

• Oct 3, 2014

• #7

Larryq22 said:

This is normal and is seldom a tragedy. If it happens later in the summer, it's usually associated with molting of head feathers (birds molt differently). If it happens earlier, it's likely mites. In either case, the feathers grow back successfully. [...]

Click to expand...

You know much about moult and moulting cycles I guess?

 

L

Larryq22

Member

• Oct 27, 2014

• #8

stonechat1 said:

You know much about moult and moulting cycles I guess?

Click to expand...

Some molting knowledge, but truthfully not too much. I had the same issue with bald birds and did some investigating.