Stressed Cardinal

There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before.  ~Robert Lynd, The Blue Lion and Other Essays

I have been watching the female Cardinals change color.
Took these of several looking quite stressed.

We keep fresh water and the feeders filled as much as possible.  Some mornings I look out and the squirrels and doves have emptied them.

To me this bird looks so tired

 God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest.  ~J.G. Holland

Don't forget to click on picture for larger view.

I have seen animals that hold their mouths open or tongue hanging out. Never thought birds did it as well.

An explanation for the ragged looking feathers.
Birds have to molt in order to survive, because feathers wear out from physical abrasion and bleaching from the sun. Once a year (in the late summer for temperate species) birds grow an entirely new set of feathers through a complete molt. As birds grow new flight feathers, they are particularly vulnerable.Jul 15, 2013