Probably a male, given that I can see a little bit of the black crown spot starting to molt in. But, hard to tell for sure.

Stunning picture! I love seeing those birds.

tmc, thank you for the entertaining video. I grow the cone flowers mainly just to watch the birds enjoying the fruits of my labor.

Another huge fan of Donna Tartt. I have read all three of her books and got The Goldfinch when it came out. DH just finally read it as he wants to see the movie which from the ads I am expecting to be pretty terrible. the book is so complex that it is hard for me to imagine how you could make a movie of it. When you read her beautifully written work you have to accept a sort of alternate universe to appreciate the story line. There is no real reason for Theo to act as he does in any rational world and the same can be said for the other two books. I did sort of bog down in the last bit but became reconciled to it as a necessity to resolve all the complexities of the book. Dickens will come to mind in that everyone and everything always gets tied together in a Donna Tartt book.