Early yesterday morning there was a coating of ice on much of the water at Huntley Meadows Park. Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) were taking advantage of this new surface to forage for seeds in the lower parts of the vegetation growing out of the frozen water.
The bright red one is immediately identifiable as a male. The other one looks like it could be a female or an adolescent male. As is often the case with birds, male cardinals start off looking like females before they acquire their adult plumage. I’m leaning towards it being a female because of the color of the bill—with younger cardinals, the bill is often dusky rather than bright orange.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Red Cardinals are one of my favorite birds.
Their bright color always cheers me up, especially during the gray days of winter.
Beautiful shots, Mike!
Thanks, Pete.
Really lovely photos, Mike. Interesting, the layer of ice and how it changes the look. This is a female because, as you suspected, the bill is red-orange.
Thanks, Jet. My initial thought was that the female would not have that much red, but the bill was the clue that seemed most diagnostic. I appreciate the confirmation of my identification.