Bird of the Week: Northern Cardinal
Monday December 22, 2008
The northern cardinal is one of the most familiar and beautiful songbirds in North America. Its stunning plumage stays boldly red during the winter, making it a popular symbol of the holiday season and the perfect choice for this week’s Bird of the Week.Red and green are the most popular Christmas colors, and a red male cardinal perching in an evergreen tree with snow-tipped branches is a classic holiday scene featured on many holiday cards (including my own this year). At the same time, the cardinal’s aggression and distinctive courtship behavior make it a fascinating visitor to suburban backyards throughout the year.
What experiences do you have with cardinals? Share your stories in the comments!
Northern Cardinal
Photo © Ed Schneider
Comments
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I have used a bird bath heater for years. This past month was the first time a fuzzy critter nibbled at the wires and broke my $70 device.
I have 17 feeding stations on my property. at any given time there are 17 cardinals fussing about. (I do feeder counts)….they have been a treasure to enjoy, and funniest when they are chasing the hairy woodpecker away from the suet cakes. Another thing I see is the male and female sharing the same feeders at the same time….I’ve read that they don’t do that.
Beautifully colored male northern cardinals with their comparatively drab mates are frequent visitors to our black-oil sunflower seed feeder. They are the first visitors with the break of dawn and the last visitors to leave well-after sunset – evidence of the superior dark adaptation of the northern cardinal. At our feeder, they feed not only at the feeder itself but also on the ground beneath the feeder where seed has fallen. Our cardinals do not seem interested in the suet cakes – the woodpeckers are unmolested as they successfully monopolize their favorite man-provided food as the cardinals feed nearby.
Male and female cardinals feed at the same time at my feeders. At times last year I counted 21 at my five feeders. They do not care for any suet I put out. The cardinals will feed from the ground while the feeders are full of other birds. This afternoon I saw something on the roof of one of my feeders and took a closer look. It was a furry tail drapped over the top of the feeder. While the owner of the tail ate on one side of the feeder birds would feed from tbe other side. One big happy family.
The Northern Cardinals showed me that hummingbirds are not the only feathered creatures that hover (or try to). All the songbirds enjoy the home made suet cakes I put out for them but instead of clinging to the suet cage like the woodpeckers and other birds did, the male Cardinals would fly up and hover for a split second, grab a bite of suet and drop to the ground. Quite a sight that I never expected to see..
Sweet Treat (original poem by B. I. Scheuerle)
Cardinals on winter grapevine, Snow piled on the ground.
Flakes swirling, turning, that way, this way, all around.
Gave Mind an ice cream sundae of red and white and brown.
love it in the spring of year when the male cardnal will crack the sead for the female and feed it to her its so touching lol
Last year I had my pairof Cardinals,so beautiful, this year I have 3. They eat a variety of seeds and fruit. they especially like the safflower seed,which I buy especially for them. Lots of woodpeckers and Chickadees this winter.
i live on 300 acre ranch and there are so many cardinals. i cook muffins and cut up fruit, and black sunflower seeds. i also live on a big lake so the abundance of different birds are a real blessing from above
Sunday, Jul. 19, I saw a male cardinal hovering as part of a mating ritual, for quite some time. He had his tail feathers spread out wide, was flying with his body positioned vertically, and was beating his wings forwards and back.
I have three pairs of Cardinals in my yard. Two of the males come and sit on the window sill when I am on the computer.That is their way of asking me for a peanut or cashew.Sometimes they will hover at the window for about 20-30 seconds and stare at me!