Whoa! Do birds really suffer from Male Pattern Baldness? (Pretty sure all the human males with hair challenges are feeling doggone handsome right now!) Although this previously-attractive male Cardinal looks like a mini red Vulture at the moment, he can boast that his bald head is temporary. He’s going through a “molt” — a process whereby a bird sheds its older feathers in preparation for new growth. Soon he’ll be back with a beautiful new, red headdress — ready to show it off to all the Cardinal chicks.
[That hole in the side of his head is his ear.]