Bald Cardinal

I thought it was a new bird species I saw a couple of days ago, but low and behold:

http://www.birdersworld.com/brd/default.aspx?c=a&id=512

Anyone know where he can get a bird toupe?? LOL

Oh my gosh, is that weird! Thanks for the links. I would've been confused if I'd seen a bald bird, too! Hmmmm... I haven't read all the articles yet, but if it was caused by mites, wouldn't all of the birds' feathers be affected? One article said they scratch their heads, but I have 2 birds (and have had many) and can tell you that probably isn't the case. Birds that pull their feathers out are often naked except for their heads. They can't really reach those feathers very well. So, I'm thinking abnormal molt or something. Interesting that it's been noted in cardinals and blue jays - two birds that have crests. Maybe that has something to do with it? Hmmmmmm.

~Kris

Yep, weird. And I've been on the lookout for bluejays with that problem, since I found that site. It also said somewhere that it could be their molt pattern. Makes ya wonder if that's what started the saying, "nekkid as a jaybird"...

ROTFL! Yeah, that could be the origin of that phrase now, couldn't it? Hmmmmmm....

~Kris

OMG!!! LOL!!!!

That looks like a new species, the cardinal vulture. :)

-Joe

It must have committed a cardinal sin.

:o)

ROTFL! I thought the same thing, Cardinal Vulture. Cardinal sin, Resin, LOL!

~Kris

O thank you for this thread..I have been trying to get a picture of mine..looks just like that..i got a picture of the female he hangs with, but havent got him. No need to now..that picture and article tell it all. Not to say I am not going to still try, just for my own self, but not in such a rush to get it over here and ask about it.

So the birds are committing cardinal sins in Florida, too? LOL Or maybe the males are just henpecked...

Edit: Last message got double-posted for some reason. Sorry!

Anyway, still on the lookout for any nekkid jaybirds...

This message was edited Jul 9, 2007 8:44 PM

hehehehehehe.....around here...probably right ;-o

Not much looks more pitiful than a bald-headed birdie!

Haven't seen any more, so hopefully they all got their headfeathers back. LOL

I see mine daily, still looks just the same, like he has on a black hood. Im glad he is still around and doing ok .

Good thing it's not cold out, or we'd have to make them little knit caps!

We've had bald Cardinals out here, every year, for at least 15 of the 20 years we've lived out here. When I first spotted them my Vet (one of her specialties birds), who was also, one of the best Mastiff Vets in the country, too, and I determined it, more than likely, was genetic.

Apparently it doesn't keep them from acquiring mates and breeding as both bald males and bald females come to feeders with "normal" mates to do courting feeding and regular feeding, and then bring their youngsters in to feeder to teach them how eat from feeders. They do develop their first set of feathers with normal head coverage. Each year, as youngsters start molting into adult feathers, several, male and female, start going bald. Within a week or two baldness is complete.

I have many, many, many year round Cardinals at feeders but I've never seen a bald one at feeders in the winter.

I do have a digital picture or two of both male and female baldies and will post when I catch some time to do so.

Another interesting thing we see in our Cardinals is a "line" of females that have such light colored front feathers, as compared to normal female coloring, that I call them "Snow Birds". Their other coloring is not as subdued as the normal females either. They are really a joy to watch.

gg=alice

your right about that...mine for sure has his mate.

I saw a red-winged blackbird that was partially bald, recently. It had some feathers on top of its head, but none on either side of its face. Took me a few moments to realize why it looked strange (it was harder to see with the black coloring). From geekgranny's post, it does sound like it's genetic. Hmmmm, wonder why it happens, though?

~Kris

Evidently baldness is not a turn-off in the avian community like it can be for some humans. LOL Thank God, or we may not have so many wonderful birds out there!

Looking at a couple of articles.... maybe I don't see any bald ones in the winter because they may regrow feathers before winter. I'll take note of that idea as I observe them over the months.

This week, first week of August, was my first spotting of "baldies" this year. I'm not sure in years before when I observe the first ones.

Because we have such a long warm season and so far south I do believe that many of my bird species have at least two broods, sometime three during the Spring/Summer/Fall. For instance I rarely see a male and a female Painted Bunting at the same feeder together except when they are breeding. This week I've seen that several times. They're probably "doing it" again. They leave here some time in September. Usually PB females will congregate in one area, males in another and frequently there will be males/no females and vice versa. As I understand, the male Painted Bunting only supplies the sperm and then goes about his merry way. But I do need to verify that. The Cardinals, either male or female, sometimes both, usually only bring in one or two youngsters to teach them about the feeders. The House Finches bring in the whole "famdamily" at one time making for quite noisy entertainment. I haven't observed what looks to be any PB moms "teaching" the youngsters at the feeders with youngsters fluffed up, begging and flapping like so many other species. Maybe the PBs are just quieter and less obvious about it. And perhaps the "groups" of "females" might just be mothers with juveniles who haven't molted into their bright colors. Hummmmmmmmmm??

A couple of months ago I took note of one Cardinal young male, at the birdbath, molting in an especially ugly manner. At first I wondered if he was diseased but over a few days time his molting process became more "normal" looking.

gg=alice

Very interesting observations--thanks, Alice!

Renee'

You all check this out from Word-Detective, Origin of the phrase "Naked as a JBird":

http://www.word-detective.com/042601.html

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Milton!

Dear Word Detective: Can you please explain "naked as a jaybird"? We have many blue jays where I live, but all of them are covered with feathers. Am I missing something? Do all their feathers fall off at some point? -- M. Mercurio, via the internet.

Not that I'm aware of, though I suppose it's not impossible. My dogs, after all, shed enough hair every summer to build a whole new dog. Maybe blue jays shed their feathers when they fly to Florida for the winter. It's probably hard to get a decent tan when you're covered with feathers.

The phrase "naked as a jay bird" means, of course, to be utterly without clothing. A "jay" is a species of songbird, probably most familiar to us as the blue jay, with its brilliant blue plumage and distinctively raucous call.

Just where the phrase "naked as a jaybird" came from is, however, a mystery. It has been in fairly common usage since the middle of the 20th century, and seems to be American in origin. Why blue jays, which are modestly covered with feathers, should have become symbols of stark nudity is anyone's guess. The English have a similar phrase, "naked as a robin," but that doesn't seem to make any sense either.

I suppose it is possible that "naked as a jaybird" is related somehow to the use of "jay" in the 19th century for a hick or rube recently arrived in the city. This "jay" underlies our term "jaywalk," meaning to cross the street in the middle of the block or in some other unorthodox fashion, supposedly as one unaccustomed to urban traffic rules might.

In any case, since we're reduced to guessing, here's mine. There are few birds more blatantly obvious than the male blue jay. Not only is Mr. Jay bright blue, not a common color for animals of any ilk, but he is also usually the loudest and most obnoxious bird in any given tree. As a symbol of that which is flamboyantly obvious, the blue jay takes the cake. "Naked as a jaybird," therefore, might just be a colorful way of saying "blatantly and obviously completely naked."

gg=alice

As a note, I rarely have Blue Jays come to the deck and feeders, even though we have many out here. They rarely even get water from the birdbaths.

Definitely the loudest, and most amusing, at my place, are the family groups of Crows who eat the corn rolls, loose corn, and unshelled peanuts, for the squirrels, and can completely disappear, in a few minutes, their favorite, the Woodpeckers'' suet. Or perhaps they can't get to the other suet that is hanging from a tree limb with a clear dome over it.

gg=alice

We have raised 3 jays that fell from their nest early, kept them until they were adult before releasing. All shed their head feathers just as they were getting their mature adult feathers. They all hid from sight most of this time. They even seemed to be pouting. I posted a picture here of one that had just started his new head feather growth a couple of weeks ago.

trois

I'll bet that's where the saying came from! Thanks, trois! That must've been fun and rewarding for you!

Posted July 28.

Can't find that post on Bird Watching Daily Pics, trois. Can you give us a link to where it's posted? Thanks!

We had a Peacock, Dave, until a bobcat got him, who would disappear while he was molting. Except for molting he was constantly between our house and the two closest houses (there's a "common" area between the three houses; all of us are off the road, back in woods). He was a better "watchdog" than everyone's dogs. Loads of fun. The only issues anyone had was he picked every families' favorite auto to poop on the most. He did cause me great concern as my Mastiffs were proven Guinea killers and Dave was a little too bold around my dogs but in the end it was a bobcat who took him out. Thank goodness it wasn't one of my dogs who ocassionally came dragging in a Peacock tail feather. My guilt would have been immense.

gg=alice

Bird cam again. I have forgotten how to hyper link. It is picture number 6 under Bird Cam again, Aug1.

Found it! First "nekkid" jaybird I ever saw!!! Great pic, trois!

http://davesgarden.com/forums/p.php?pid=3790383