It's worth noting that the bases of the red body feathers are blackish too.  
Actually, they're about half black, so when a bird is in heavy body molt it can 
appear blackish.

Kevin

-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-117758737-3493...@list.cornell.edu 
[mailto:bounce-117758737-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Anne Marie 
Johnson
Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2014 7:38 PM
To: Carl J. Steckler; CAYUGABIRDS-L
Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Black cardinal

Sounds like it might be a juvenile going through its first molt. Sometimes they 
lose all their head feathers at once, and the skin under the feathers of 
cardinals is black. It's not all that uncommon with cardinals and blue jays. 
You can find more information here:
http://feederwatch.org/learn/unusual-birds/#bald-headed-birds

Anne Marie Johnson

On 8/21/2014 11:52 AM, Carl Steckler wrote:
> This morning I had a very unusual bird at my feeders. It was a 
> Cardinal with a red head and black mask, but the body was black. By 
> the time I went to get my camera it was gone. I have set up my 
> wildlife camera in hopes that it will come back and I can get a photo of it.
> Has anyone else seen this bird?
> Carl Steckler
>
>
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