Earlier this week, while out it my yard, I was lucky enough to get to watch this handsome young male cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) taking a bath. Watching birds bathe is interesting because of the energy and joy that always seems to be involved. It’s especially interesting with these fledglings because although they look almost full grown, they are still a little bit clumsy and a little tentative. This fellow made several approaches to the bird bath before he finally gently eased into the water. Then he hesitantly began to start to bathe.

As he got comfortable in the water and the safety of the area he really got into it.

When he finished, he climbed out and perched on the edge of the bath where he fluffed his feathers, shook off the excess water, and looked very pleased. Finally, satisfied that he was done in the water, he flew up into a nearby tree where he spent about 10 minutes preening each and every feather from his chest to the tip of his tail.