Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Time For a New Suit

The tail end of breeding season has its entertainments. Yes, there are the delightful fledglings figuring out how things work and still making themselves a nuisance. But there's some visual amusement as well. It's time for many birds to molt and get a new, clean set of feathers. The Cardinals always look the weirdest when this happens. This male is replacing his headfeathers and the exposed skin looks...blue. Soon he and others will be spiffed up for high summer. There will be plenty of food and proteins will be widely available. And for the Cardinals...lots of good beta carotenes to refresh that nice red hue! Time for new duds!

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