YOUNG CARDINAL

This is a juvenile male cardinal with his adult red feathers beginning to show. When young, both the male and female have a dull brown coloring similar to the adult female, then in the fall, they molt and grow adult feathers. I hadn’t been able to get a shot of a cardinal until today, so it’s my blip even though I wish the background had been more attractive. Wouldn’t you know it – I also got a couple picture of a blue jay today - my two 'impossible' shots so far this year. They seem to come around to check for peanuts now that they’ve discovered there might be some set out for the squirrels.

Online I read that cardinals mate for life. The oldest cardinal banded by researchers lived to be 15 years 9 months! Amazing!