San Lucas Cardinal Taking Off From a Bare Branch

A cardinal lifts off from a pale, leafless branch with its wings spread high and angled forward. The flight feathers are fanned apart, and the undersides glow orange-red where the light passes through them. The bird's face is dark, the body is a muted olive-buff, and a long reddish tail trails behind. The motion shows in the soft blur of the wings and tail. Around it, the background is a haze of thin twigs and a few scattered yellow leaves, in washed-out tan, grey and green. The mood is quiet and a little wintry, and the one patch of strong colour sits in the upper right.

The San Lucas cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis igneus) is a subspecies of the northern cardinal found in the Baja California peninsula, where it lives in desert scrub, thickets and oases. Cardinals feed mostly on seeds, fruit and insects, and they tend to stay in dense cover close to where they nest. Males and females both sing. Females are generally duller than males, with warm red accents mainly on the wings, crest and tail. This square frame works best on a phone or a tablet, where the bird's wings can sit above the icons. It also suits a centered desktop layout.