Babies or juveniles?

It was so exciting to see these youngsters-- 

could they be from the nest that was discovered several months ago?

   ©

It looks like a juvenile female above and with more information it was for sure.  

Young males, as they are developing, look like grown females.  And as time went on it did become apparent that this was a female.

And then along came this juvenile male above--no problem identifying this guy!

It was a little disappointing to realize that these birds are about a year old,
based on information that I found.  The cardinals usually mate for life and have up to 4 broods a year.

©

Baby Cardinals At About Six Weeks!!!

©

At about six weeks old--don't know if it is a female or male?

A young northern male cardinal resembles a full grown female until it reaches maturity.

The adult male does the feeding so the female can go off and build another nest for the next brood.

It was a great treat to watch this baby grow and learn.

What a sight to watch almost on a daily routine.

Little guy trying to figure out how to get on the bird feeder from the tree...

It was comical to watch him figure this out!
He finally got on the top of the feeder
but didn't work out how to get to the seed.

 A few days later he finally had learned to get down to where it could get the seeds for himself.

The pictures are a little distorted because the feeder is on the outside of the fence.

Happy little male cardinal! 

 

Brave enough to come over the fence to the bird bath for a drink!

The finishing touch for this sequence was when the young female cardinal decided to display herself.
These two youngsters have been followed from the nest until now, and I'm still watching!

The little miss had no trouble getting from the tree to the feeder!

In a few months the color will fill in and the beak will be red!

©