Readers’ wildlife photos

Today we have a second installment (first one here) of reader Doug Hayes’s photos of the birds that frequent his backyard feeder. The title is “The breakfast crew.” Doug’s IDs and captions are indented:

More scenes from the bird feeders in our backyard here in Richmond, Virginia.

A male House finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) feeds a caterpillar to a fledgling.  The juvenile is flapping its wings to signal that it wants to be fed.

Male Northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) hopping to a better perching spot as other birds mob the feeders.

A bald male Northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) showing its black skin beneath the feathers. There is some disagreement as to what is going on here. Most experts say that it is just an end of breeding season molting, which starts at the head. This bald head look has been seen in both males…