this poor cardinal!

What on earth causes this? Is it mites? Fleas? I have only ever seen cardinals with this problem, and only in the Summer months. I have seen several with bald spots before, but not this bad.

I'm sure it is mites. A lot of birds seem to be having mite problems this year.

But maybe helps them keep cool in hot weather . . .

Resin

Oh my, that looks awful :(

I have one who looks just like that in my yard. I told him he needed a new barber : ) are they molting ? that was my guess

I have quite a few that look like this. Same way every year

Yep. Every year in August. Must be molting. Here is a female on one of my feeders

allianthus, I hope it will hearten you to read what I am going to note here. I had a bird in the yard look just like this. I was horrified because I have a pair of cardinals who seem to live there and have raised several families there (though I have never found their nest!!) If thery don't live in my yard they sure hang out there a lot. Anyway I found out this is some sort of malady that affects cardinals specifically (maybe because they have that gorgeous crest) but I have also read that they do get over it. And I am happy to say the same pair continue to hang around here all the time, and Big Daddy (as I call him) aggressively chases away any other lurking male cardinal at mating/nesting season. I try to tell him they are his children from the previous season, but to no avail. And don't ask me how I know it's the same bird.