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Message: <blockquote data-quote="nartreb" data-source="post: 3180380" data-attributes="member: 114837">It's normal for the back to be more grey compared to, say, the head.  Yours does look particularly grey, though it's hard to be sure how much of that is due to the camera.  I've never heard of birds turning grey with age, but weak pigmentation may have something to do with nutrition.  The red is mostly from carotenoids, which the cardinal must obtain through diet.      It may just be that, prior to his last molt, this bird was eating mostly birdseed and suet, rather than berries, in which case he's probably perfectly healthy - but his odds of finding a mate or winning a big territory are not as good as they would be if he were redder.ETA:  it's most definitely a Northern Cardinal.  I'm not seeing any white pigment on the tail, just a bit of glare from the sun, and possibly some wear.</blockquote>