...is the cardinal. I can see why. I have at least two dozen of them at the feeder north of the house this evening. They flit around so much that it's difficult to get an accurate accounting, but I'm sure there are at least a dozen pairs stopping by for a snack before bedtime.
We have cardinals year round here. At one time we had even more than the 24 I saw tonight. There used to be a thicket around a couple of lakes to the east of us, but a developer razed most of that to put up houses, destroying their habitat. I'm not sure where they are nesting now, but I was glad to see that they stayed near us.
This site has an excellent picture of a cardinal in winter.
This site Has a number of excellent shots of cardinals, showing both the female and male coloring. The last photo shows how attentive the male is while they are away from the nest. We never see a female cardinal at the feeder without seeing a male cardinal keeping watch for predators.
I'm as taken by the coloring of the female cardinal, as I am with the brilliant red of the male. I don't know that I could choose my favorite. The taupe colors of the female give her great protective coloration, but she's not a drab bird by any means. She has the same orange beak that you see on the male, and a streak of rosy red at the tip of her crest, her wings and tail feathers, and the palest blush of color across her breast.
While there's clearly a pecking order within the cardinal family, these birds get along well with the others who make their way to my feeders. We're always happy to see them.
Comments (8)
How cruel of you to provide a couple of links that sent me scurrying to other sites for more than an hour. Lovely choices. Especially the first cardinal picture. Pete's photos are lovely, but he needs to work on getting his photo plane right (or are my eyes just fuzzy?). Melissa had some great pics, too. (I just got back from a Missouri Dept of Conservation site that Melissa Brown had linked to!) Thanks!
Posted by Cop Car | January 23, 2005 8:30 PM
Posted on January 23, 2005 20:30
Well, of course I was talking about focal plane. I don't know how I managed to type photo plane--LOL.
Posted by Cop Car | January 23, 2005 8:31 PM
Posted on January 23, 2005 20:31
I don't remember the last time I actually saw a cardingal. Not that we don't have them here (we do), and not that they aren't plentiful (apparently they are), but they hate our property - even with all the fruit trees and bushes I have provided.
I know they are around though because a friend used to live 1/2 mile away and see them at her feeders summer and winter.
Posted by bogie | January 24, 2005 4:28 AM
Posted on January 24, 2005 04:28
We tried changing our feed mix this year. Mother was concerned about how much she was spending on birdseed in the summer. We noticed when we switched to the less expensive seed, and were putting out fewer nuts, the cardinals were not as numerous. I know they like black oil sunflower seeds, but they also seem to like the pricy "Woodpecker Wish," which is full of nuts. It's possible that they are very opportunistic feeders, and go to your friend because she supplies something that's harder for them to find.
Posted by Buffy | January 24, 2005 11:39 PM
Posted on January 24, 2005 23:39
I wish I had the time to surf the links on all the blogs I visit. There's a wealth of information out there, and I hate that I can't just sit and surf.
Posted by Buffy | January 24, 2005 11:49 PM
Posted on January 24, 2005 23:49
I did check out the photos you linked to... what gorgeous colorful birds. It must be a great pleasure to look outdoors and see them.
Posted by Desiree | January 26, 2005 5:02 PM
Posted on January 26, 2005 17:02
Thanks for the comments, folks :-)
Cardinals really are beautiful birds. It's wonderful to see them feeding each other in the early spring.
As for focal plane, most of those were taken with a very poor quality monocular lense on the end of a 3mp digital camera. The glass was such poor quality, that all the photos really suffer. OF course, it didn't help that those were all taken at about 22x or so, through a window, into an area that is almost always shady.
You can see the equipment here:
http://www.irritatedvowel.com/Photography/Equipment.aspx
Alas, a digital SLR and appropriate telephoto lenses are not on the shopping list for a while.
Melissa has a new camera that I borrow a lot. It has less of a zoom, but better optics. Still not an SLR, but quite an improvement!
Posted by Pete | January 31, 2005 7:45 PM
Posted on January 31, 2005 19:45
I'm having one of those "Oh, duh!" nights, Pete. It took me a moment to realize that it's YOUR site I linked to for the pictures of the cardinals. You and Melissa must spend a LOT of time photographing birds. I was amazed at the number of shots you had just of cardinals. Thanks for the explanation of the effect of windows on your photos. I hope the new equipment won't be long in coming.
Posted by Buffy | February 1, 2005 12:35 AM
Posted on February 1, 2005 00:35