When you’re having a bad day, it sometimes helps to remind ourselves that others can often be having troubles, too. Misery loves company, isn’t that how it goes?
So if you’re having a bad hair day, or maybe things aren’t suite going as they should, you could always be a bald bird. And I don’t mean an eagle.
I have no idea why I haven’t noticed this more often. It’s not new. It’s likely been going on since dinosaurs first sprouted feathers. But it’s molting season. For several years I have noticed blue jays flying around this time of year with strange, featherless heads. For a while I thought it must have something to do with having young ones. I mean, they wouldn’t be the only ones to have their offspring make them want to pull their hair (or feathers) out. But really, it’s just changing outfits.
When your outer layer is needed for many different things, from being able to fly to keeping you warm all winter to helping you find a mate in the spring, it’s important to have a good quality suit. It’s more than just dressing for success. It’s dressing for survival.
But that doesn’t stop me from laughing at them. I mean, they are usually such nice looking birds. Except for that short period around this time of year when they just look like something from a horror movie.
As I say, I have noticed it largely with blue jays, maybe because they stand out more. Then, I saw a cardinal.
Yes… that picture attached here is a cardinal. And it’s actually from a photo service we have. I just searched for “bald cardinal” and what came up is pretty much exactly what I saw in my back yard. So this is not an unusual thing.
Like blue jays, maybe even more so, cardinals are normally pretty impressive. In fact, they usually look downright stunning. This time of year they can look a bit less like a cardinal, and more like a monk that has given up all his worldly goods and moved into a cave somewhere.
For a while, I was wondering why I don’t see many cardinals around this time of year. I hear them, but don’t seem to actually spot them. Maybe it’s because the normally bright red birds just haven’t changed into their new fall outfits yet. I might have been seeing them and just not recognizing them. Or maybe they’re embarrassed to be seen and just hide a bit more.
And me laughing at them probably doesn’t help. I’m pretty sure they’re sitting around thinking, “If I was still a T-Rex he wouldn’t be doing that.” Then again, maybe that’s why they’ve been leaving little gifts on my windshield.
So next time you’re having a bad hair day, just remember. You could be a bald cardinal.
