Bald in beautiful?

[Mack Hicks]

Molting cardinal. It this a female or a juvenile?

D300 with Nikon 500 f/4

1/1250 f/4 ISO 800

3 flash setup as I was shooting hummingbirds as well, all manual 1/32 power, triggered with SB900 with CLS

There were several cardinals is various states of molt, another obvious male was almost bald as well.

[John Chardine]

Mack- This is not a typical moult pattern and I suspect something is wrong with this bird such as an infestation of feather lice. Maybe the other bird you saw like this is young came from the same infested nest? Just a guess.

[ChasMcRae]

I have several bald Cardinals in the yard and it happens every year.
Weird appearance ,but not unusal.