Northern Cardinal parents and baby

[pauraque]

We have a pair of Northern Cardinals nesting in our yard, and today I saw dad with a fledgling!



The fledgling was begging for food by fluttering its wings, a common signal in many baby birds. Dad was attentively finding seeds and stuffing them in Junior's mouth. The baby already has a little bit of a crest and some red on the wings, but it's too early to tell the sex. Mom wasn't with them but I saw her on the feeder later in the day.



The female Northern Cardinal doesn't have the solid red plumage the species is named for. She's mostly yellowish-brown with some red on the crest, wings, and tail. She also has a bright orange bill, distinguishing her from immature birds nearing adulthood that have similar plumage to adult females but gray bills like the fledgling above.

Comments

[full_metal_ox]

For some reason I see comparatively little summertime cardinal photography; possibly because the adult males, a dramatic color pop against snow and bare or evergreen branches, tie so obligingly into temperate winter holiday color schemes.

Now here you are, kindly sharing a snapshot of the whole family; thank you!

[pauraque]

Good point! They are more associated with winter but we get to enjoy them all year.

[vriddy]

Such fascinating colours, wow! What a cool family scene to stumble onto :D

[pauraque]

It was a nice sighting!

[cmcmck]

We have the starling chicks begging from mum and dad and it's just so amusing! :o)

[pauraque]

It makes me laugh when they get to be as big as the parents and are still following them around begging.

[shirebound]

Thanks for sharing this family with us! I know they appreciate your feeder very much.

[pauraque]

And we appreciate seeing them come by!

[ribirdnerd]

Aww very nice. I've seen some fledgling Robins and Starlings around my yard.

[pauraque]

I love robin fledglings and their funny little frowny mouths. :)

[aflatmirror]

Adorable! We're getting mostly blue jays and mourning doves at our feeder (and groundhogs 😂)

[pauraque]

I love groundhogs! I see them in the neighborhood but they might not be able to get past the fence to where our feeders are.

[sparowe]

Cardinals have been special to me ever since Mum passed--a friend of mine told me the belief that they're a loved one saying hello. Thank you for sharing them! <3

[casket]

oh, they're just all too cute!
such a nice thing to see as i'm waking up today
thank you for sharing

[kaishin108]

You were so lucky to see it! :)

[yourlibrarian]

Fledglings are so demanding. We had a robin one on our balcony once -- its mother steadfastly ignored it while she sat on her next nest.

Great photo!

[dhampyresa]

Pretty birds!