Re: Cardinals

Marcia Watson-Whitmyre (mww@UDel.Edu)
Tue, 18 Aug 1998 10:24:22 -0400


Fran Saunders wrote:

> I have been asked to post the following to MDOsprey.  If you know
> anything about the condition described please post directly to the author
> as well as MDOsprey.  Thanks.
>
> Fran
>
> From:                   <eldon.colby@cio.treas.gov>
>
> Dear Web Master,  I don't know how to post a message on this site but
> would like to see if anyone has a comment on the following.
>
> Possibly someone might know what's wrong with these two Cardinals.
> The
> male is the most normal but has lost his crown and has one feather
> sticking up on the top of his head.  However, the female does not look
> like a cardinal at all.  I say it's a cardinal because it sounds like one,
> acts like one, stays close by it's mate, and the beak and tail are
> cardinal like.  The beak looks too big, I believe because this bird has
> apparently lost all of her feathers on her head and neck.  She only has
> fine gray feathers left, no black around the beak, and no crown at all.
> The other strange thing is that she has a cream colored breast and under
> body, very light in color and in sharp contrast to her dusky red wings and
> back.  Oh, and she is twice as fat as the male.  Possibly she is pregnant.
>  Are these very sick birds or mutants?
>
> Would you mind posting this for me, or tell me how to get onto the bird
> chat.  Thank you.
>

There is an article in the most recent Bird Watcher's Digest about this
condition.  I only skimmed the article, but as I recall mites were cited as
the cause, with the further note that birds cannot effectively preen their
heads to remove the mites - thus the head appears most affected.   As another
writer noted, the cardinals will eventually regrow their feathers - no cause
for worry.

Another comment:  the post says "Possibly she is pregnant."  "Gravid" (meaning
"full of eggs") is a better term than "pregnant" for birds.  Cardinals are
reported to lay eggs through August in Maryland, so that is one possibility
for the female's apparent large size.  Another is seasonal fattening - even
non-migratory birds may show deposition of fat at this time of year.  Another
possibility is simply feather-fluffing from excessive preening, trying to get
rid of the mites, if that's what she has. And of course, in some species the
female actually is bigger than the male.  I don't have any references here for
size differences in cardinals - does anyone out there have them handy?

Marcia Watson-Whitmyre
Cecil County MD