A very observant older gentleman noticed three female cardinals at his birder feeder. Two of them had orange colored bills, the other had a gray-black bill. Why, he wondered, the difference?
Answer: The cardinal with the black bill was a juvenile bird. Young cardinals, both male and female, have coloring similar to the adult female cardinal — an overall, washed out grayish red color. Not the bright red coloring of the adult male. But juvenile cardinals have a black, not orange, bill. The bill color gradually becomes orange as the youngsters grow intro teenagers and adults.
Female Cartdinal
Juvenile Cardinal
Look for black billed cardinals at your feeder
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