A look at female cardinal plumage

By Aaron Horrell

Plumage is a term that refers to the characteristics of a bird's feathers. Shown here is the normal plumage of an adult northern cardinal.

The female northern cardinal is often thought of as not having a crest like its male counterpart. But the female cardinal does have a crest. Its crest is recumbent, meaning that it can lie down flat on the bird's head. The female cardinal often will keep its crest low, probably to keep a less conspicuous profile. This is most important while the female is on the nest. The male northern cardinal on the other hand, seems to always be willing to show off his fine crest.

The crest feathers are called "semiplume" feathers. They are soft and bendable, unlike the "contour feathers" that surround the bird's body. Soft fluffy feathers called "down" feathers grow beneath the contour feathers close to the bird's body. The down feathers keep the bird warm. The contour feathers serve to keep wind and rain away from the bird's body.

Under the cardinal's beak you can see "bristle" feathers that are rather stiff and tapered, looking somewhat like whiskers. These are actually feathers and not hairs as was once thought.

Between the eye and beak are shorter "rictal bristle" feathers and soft down-like feathers.

Feathers are a phenomenon that set birds apart from other animal species.