Northern Cardinals ‘Return’

December 20th, 2014

Northern Cardinals ‘Return’

Walton County, Georgia

Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) had come to the feeders continuously throughout the year. They don’t migrate so it was surprising and a little distracting to note that they ‘disappeared’ in mid- to late October. None came to the feeder until a few days ago and, so far, I’ve seen three males and one female. Thus, thankfully, order has been restored to the universe.

At The Feeders: Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

February 14th, 2014. The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is, by far, one of the showiest birds to come to the feeders. We see eight or nine pairs around the feeders each day. They are among the first to arrive in the early morning and the last to leave in the late afternoon. They feed on sunflower seeds. 

The male is the brightest.  
 

The female’s plumage is more muted, but quite beautiful. 

Cardinals are most comfortable feeding on the ground or on the platform feeder, but will also feed at the tube feeder. They can hull the seeds at the feeder.

 

Some cardinals have tried to feed at the log feeders… 

Most attempts are like this. They can’t gain purchase on the log so take a mouthful of food ‘to go.’

 

A few cardinals have mastered feeding at the logs even if they look a little awkward.  

Identification Resources: 

All About Birds 

- Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 

Related post:  

- Photo Of The Day 

- Snow Day And Hungry Birds

Birds In An Ice Storm

February 12th, 2014. We’re in the second day of an ice and snow storm in the Atlanta, Georgia area. This brings birds to the feeders in large numbers. I’ve taken a number of photos that I’ll publish after the storm but this is my favorite photo of the day. 

 

Identification Resources:

All About Birds 

- Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) 

- Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)  

- Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus), now Dendroica pinus*  

- Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

*Integrated Taxanomic Information System (ITIS) 

Related post:

- Snow Day And Hungry Birds

Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis): Nest

We’ve had a week or so of gray weather interspersed with rain showers and thunderstorms. Not good weather for rowing but I can’t stay inside all the time. So … I’ve been taking a daily walk down to the creek and then around the field. Yesterday, it started to rain lightly when I set off down the field but I didn’t expect it to last. The rain got heavier the further I went but it clearly was a shower. I decided to shelter under trees down at the road. I’m not sure why I looked back into the woods – probably just occupying time.

There, not more than three feet above the ground was a bird’s nest with chicks. Their eyes were closed and they were almost naked, a little bit of down and some wing feathers. I could hear quiet ‘chipping’ calls – softer than the scolding that chickadees deliver. I followed the nearest sound and finally spied a female cardinal sitting higher up in the tree. The source of the second call – presumably the male – was off to the right, possibly in a tree across the road. I got some shots with a zoom lens and flash but the lighting wasn’t good enough to get close up shots. Today, I went back with an led flashlight. The shot of mum sitting on the nest is a little dark. I tried not to disturb her but she was very shy and took off.

I did get some good shots of the chicks who, for some reason, thought it was dinnertime and responded accordingly for a few seconds.

I’ll keep an eye on the nest if I can do it without disturbing the mum too much.

Reference information: Northern Cardinal (Cardinal cardinalis)
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