Northern Cardinal
high confidenceCardinalis cardinalis
A brilliant all-over red songbird captured mid-flight past a backyard feeder station. The blur shows the characteristic crested head, stout conical bill with a dark reddish-black face mask, and a long red tail — all classic marks of an adult male Northern Cardinal.
Other possibilities:
- Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra) — Also an entirely red bird, but it lacks a crest and a black face mask, and the tail is shorter than shown here.
- Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) — Bright red in breeding plumage, though it has black wings and tail, which do not match the uniformly red bird in the frame.
2026-08-25