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Northern cardinal

Lagoon Pond, Martha's Vineyard. You will notice that this cardinal is lacking in feathers. This is a perfectly healthy bird that has had what is known as a "catastrophic molt". Unlike most birds that replace feathers individually, after breeding cardinals will often loose all their head feathers synchronously, resulting in a "bald" cardinal. They will grow back.

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Uploaded on September 24, 2025
Taken on August 17, 2025