Is this a gcc or a cardinal feather?

[CrazyBirdChick]

I saw this feather in the street and it made me wonder if there's a lost green cheek conure somewhere, or if it's just a cardinal's feather?

Though it looks more maroon than red. I hope it was just a cardinal feather?

 

[Crazy4parrots]

Could be a conure's...

 

[SandraK]

I'd say gcc ...but it could be a cardinal's.

 

[painesgrey]

"When you hear hoofbeats, think horses not zebras."

Probably a juvenile cardinal, possibly a female. The cardinals that visit my feeder are currently losing their adolescent feathers and growing their adult plumage, so that's probably the case here too.

 

[CrazyBirdChick]

Thanks guys!!

I was pretty much convinced it was a gcc so I was scouring the internet, looking for any reports of a lost one in the area, but couldn't find anything recent.

I looked up Google images of a cardinal's tail feathers but all I saw was a male ones which were bright red. I forgot that females look a little duller.

Sure enough after I Googled female cardinal tail feathers, it looks like the pic

Whew! That's a relief!

Thanks all!!!

 

[SandraK]

The young male cardinals I've seen eventually go from a brownish red to their bright red.