Cardinal Red

by AnnaJo Vahle

Title

Cardinal Red

Artist

AnnaJo Vahle

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

It was a rainy, foggy, overcast St. Patrick's Day afternoon. Yet, the song birds were out and about flitting from their various nests and feeding at the backyard feeder. This is in Northern Brevard County along the East coast of Central Florida. Painted Buntings, Blue Jays and Cardinals flocked around the yard. I caught this beautiful male cardinal feeding by himself at the feeder. He was the bravest of all the birds in the yard. I sat near the feeder with a camera in hand. The other birds seemed a bit frightened having me around. I sat for a long time while this was the only bird allowing me to capture his likeness. He is a beauty for sure. The bright red color stood out brilliantly against the greens of the background. A big wet spot from the gentle rain can be seen on his tail feathers. He has a seed in his beak as he watches me over his shoulder.
The male Northern Cardinal is perhaps responsible for getting more people to open up a field guide than any other bird. They’re a perfect combination of familiarity, conspicuousness, and style: a shade of red you can’t take your eyes off. Even the brown females sport a sharp crest and warm red accents. Cardinals don’t migrate and they don’t molt into a dull plumage, so they’re still breathtaking in winter’s snowy backyards. In summer, their sweet whistles are one of the first sounds of the morning.
The brilliant red of a male Northern Cardinal calls attention to itself when males are around. You can also find cardinals by getting a sense of the warm, red-tinged brown of females – a pattern you can learn to identify in flight. Away from backyards, cardinals are still common but inconspicuous owing to their affinity for dense tangles. Listen for their piercing chip notes to find where they are hiding.
Only a few female North American songbirds sing, but the female Northern Cardinal does, and often while sitting on the nest. This may give the male information about when to bring food to the nest. A mated pair shares song phrases, but the female may sing a longer and slightly more complex song than the male.
The male cardinal fiercely defends its breeding territory from other males. When a male sees its reflection in glass surfaces, it frequently will spend hours fighting the imaginary intruder.
A perennial favorite among people, the Northern Cardinal is the state bird of seven states.
The oldest recorded Northern Cardinal was a female, and was 15 years, 9 months old when she was found in Pennsylvania.

Uploaded

April 2nd, 2018

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