Imagine, then, the confusion that Larry Ammann must have felt one strange January morning. The former are a vibrant shade of crimson, the latter a drab gray with a few red highlights on the wings and crest. In northern cardinals, males and females look noticeably different. A DUAL-SEX CARDINAL WAS PHOTOGRAPHED IN 2011. Among those afflicted birds, he says that “None … had severe lice or mite problems.” Alternative explanations include abnormal molting patterns and cranial injuries. Ritchison has personally handled “thousands” of cardinals, including several baldies. Many experts blame parasites, though some-like Eastern Kentucky University ornithologist Gary Ritchison-have their doubts. Wild specimens that suffer from a near-total lack of feathers on their heads and necks are documented every year. Naked-headed cardinals don’t make for a pleasant sight. At the end of the day, there’s safety in numbers. Loose confederacies like this also make individual birds less vulnerable to cardinal-eating predators, which are spotted more readily by large groups. As temperatures drop, temporary flocks consisting of five or more couples band together. Instead, cardinal pairs will often join forces in the quest for sustenance. In the warmer months, cardinal pairs aggressively defend a plot of land sized between two and 10 acres-so you might think that they get especially territorial in winter, when food gets much scarcer than usual.
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