My Bald Headed Friend

I like to feed the birds in our yard.  We have quite a few feeders on several sides of the house as well as two on the second floor.  Even the husband has gotten into the bird watching.  He has a feeder in his office window and enjoys watching the birds during his work day. 

About a month ago an unusual bird showed up at the feeder in my sewing room.  I get a nice close view of birds at this feeder since in sits right on the window ledge.  At first her appearance was alarming!  I thought it was a new type of bird that I had never seen before.  But then, as I looked closer I realized it was a female cardinal.....with NO feathers on her head.  Completely bald.  She looked like a miniature vulture.  I immediately felt sorry for her!  I have no idea why she is bald or if she will always be bald. (Although, thanks to the wonders of internet search I've discovered that it isn't a particularly serious condition)  She seems healthy and I think she had young to feed this year.  And a male cardinal is often around with her, so she isn't shunned by the other birds.  She seems to chirp happily and appears to be a well adjusted, though odd looking creature.  I guess birds don't have self image problems and really don't care much about how they look.  We could learn a lot from that. 

Here's the best picture that I could catch through the window.  It's taken through the slats of the blind, when she was just starting to fly away, but I think you can get an idea of her strange look.

I'm glad that she seems happy and well adjusted but I still find myself wanting to fashion a wig for her.