I saw a completely tail-less male N Cardinal at my feeders this morning. He also had a tuft of feathers that seem to have been disturbed near where his tail would have been. He seemed fine otherwise and was able to fly. But he looked so odd! I found an article that refers to "fright, stress or shock molt" as a defense when birds are attacked. Has anyone else seen or heard about this phenomen? Here's the link to the article: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2009/apr/26/frightened-cardinal-sacrifices-tail-abandons/ Suellen Fortine Maineville ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]