Ma & Pa Cardinal

First I took the photo of the female (on the left) because she was a particularly bright version of a female Northern Cardinal - the bits that are generally orange are very red to my eye in this gal. Then I took a photo of the male. And then when I noticed how similar their poses were I thought they'd make a nice side by side visual of the difference in coloration between the sexes in our Northern Cardinals. Hey presto, a collage! Thank you, PicMonkey.

The extra is a different female - you might be able to see that she is less red.

Also - speaking of female Cardinals - I saw the one without the topknot again yesterday. Still just a black spot where her crest should be. Very odd. I guess it's going to be gone until the next molt, whenever that might be! Will she have to wait until late Summer? Oh well, she doesn't seem to notice she looks at all odd.