Crazy bald head

Every year around this time, the blue jays and cardinals molt giving them crazy bald heads (as I call them). It's a normal process. The jays are more conspicuous here because they go after the same peanuts as our squirrels. The cardinals do not. Their new feathers are just starting to show. It will be about a month yet before they have a full and glorious head of plumage again.

Here's a really good blog post explaining their molting process.