cardinal 2nd brood at the feeders.

This little cutie was dropped off to fend for himself a couple weeks ago. I don't think he is the juvenile of my cardinal couple that claims our backyard as their territory because my neighbor tells me they have nestlings in their oak tree again. Same oak tree they used for the first brood but different nest. We have watched him grow from shy around the feeders to standing up to our adult cardinal couple really giving them a run for their money. Every chance they get, they chase him and he is a defiant little thing. He comes right back and seems to win. Now I know it is mostly because the adults have nestlings right now and can't spend too much time but he thinks he is a big boy, you can tell. And, even though the mourning doves are extremely patient with the juvies, as are the adult cardinals with juvie mourning doves, this little guy is bullying them from the ground feeders. Hilarious. Here he is at our candle stick feeder hot, mouth open and tail fanned just hanging out after munching on sunflower seeds.