Hello,
I am new to this site and hope I can find some information about my question. We've always fed the bird in our yards, for close to 50 years now. This year, our feeder has attracted two different Cardinals with different issues about them. First of all, this spring, a male started coming to the feeder and he looks normal except he has no crest. This is the first time I've seen this, so I googled it and found that it could be caused by molting. So I forgot about it...until now it's a month later and he still has no crest. So I guess he just has no crest. Then the other day, a female Cardinal started visiting. She also has no crest. But the oddest thing about her is that she tries to get in our windows. She flies to the window and clings to the pane, tapping her beak on the glass. I move the curtain and she flies to the feeder post and at this point, the crestless male lands next to her, and she opens her mouth to him and it looks like a parent feeding their young. They do this several times, then fly off. It's the strangest behavior I've ever seen in wild birds. This has happened off and on for two days now.
If anyone has any ideas about what's going on with these two oddball Cardinals, I'd love to hear about it.
I also have a question about another Cardinal that is visiting, but I will post it in another post.
Hi Leelee, as this is a UK based site, there is likely to be limited knowledge about (presumably) US birds and their behaviours. Here birds often mistake reflections they see in the window as rivals, and therefore potentially waste valuable energy trying to chase the "rival" away. Advice is usually to cover the window or put stickers on them to mask the reflection.
Hope this helps in some way
Thank you very much for addressing my issue. I had no idea this was a UK site. I guess I should have read more before joining to post my question. As to your reply, I had put a reflective spinner on the window to try to deter this from happening, but I suppose this bird hasn't paid attention to it. I will keep on looking for more information. Thank you again!