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McGILL BIRD OBSERVATORY |
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Seasonal status at MBO:
Ageing and sexing details: AHY male Northern Cardinals are unmistakable. The body plumage is entirely red aside from the black facial mask; colour may appear quite different depending on lighting. While feathers on the back and wings may have gray edging, there are no brown juvenal feathers visibly contrasting with the red adult feathers.
AHY female Northern Cardinals are primarily brown, with red on the crest, bill, and wings. It is primarily the absence of a molt limit on the wings which indicates the age of this bird as AHY. Other AHY characteristics are the dark brown iris (gray or grayish-brown in HY) and uniformly red bill (dark in HY birds until mid- to late fall).
AHY male Northern Cardinals are unmistakable. The body plumage is entirely red aside from the black facial mask; colour may appear quite different depending on lighting. While feathers on the back and wings may have gray edging, there are no brown juvenal feathers visibly contrasting with the red adult feathers.
AHY female Northern Cardinals are primarily brown, with red on the crest, bill, and wings. It is primarily the absence of a molt limit on the wings which indicates the age of this bird as AHY. Other AHY characteristics are the dark brown iris (gray or grayish-brown in HY) and uniformly red bill (dark in HY birds until mid- to late fall).
By late in the year, HY male Northern Cardinals are primarily red, but have patches of retained brown juvenal feathers. These are most commonly seen on the wings, but may also occur on the back and tail, and can generally be observed in one or more places on a perched bird. There may also be a dusky tip to the bill, and the iris is typically gray or grayish-brown until late in the year. The second photo below shows the more overall brown appearance of a male HY bird prior to its prebasic moult.
HY Northern Cardinals typically show very visible molt limits on the wings. In the example below, the outermost three primaries and most of the primary coverts are retained juvenal feathers, contrasting sharply with the fresh new red adult feathers adjacent to them. The second photo shows a different pattern, which just a couple of retained brown secondaries.
Like older female Northern Cardinals, HY females are primarily brown, with red on the crest, bill, and wings. However, there are distinct molt limits on the wings between the retained brown juvenal feathers and the new red adult feathers, and this is usually visible even when the bird is perched. There may also be a dusky tip to the bill, as in the bird below, and the iris is typically gray or grayish-brown until late in the year.
HY Northern Cardinals typically show very visible molt limits on the wings. In the example below, the outermost three primaries and outermost five primary coverts are retained juvenal feathers, contrasting sharply with the fresh new red adult feathers adjacent to them.
Juvenile Northern Cardinals are most readily recognized by their dusky, rather than red, bills.
This very early season hatchling was still growing in primaries when it was caught.
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