Mainly monogamous cardinals are great couples; they travel together, sing together before "nesting" and the male will feed his spouse while she's sitting on her clutch of eggs. If you see a lady cardinal in her olive drab, her bright red mate won't be far away.
Here's a clip from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology of the cardinal's song.
I also see more and more hawks overhead in my west-end Toronto neighbourhood. Watch out for your kitties.
top picture from wikipedia
a beautiful song for a beautiful bird...hmm...perhaps there is something we could learn from their habits...
ReplyDeleteWow, your cardinals are so bright and red. Ours are more grey with bits of red. We've had a pair of them that nests every year in our back yard. Over the years they have gotten to know us and this year we were treated to them feeding their young outside our kitchen window. Do yours make a bink bink sound when you get close?
ReplyDeleteI'm sitting here listening to several cardinals right now. And Julie is feeling so yucky (pollen, I think) that she's not even crashing into the window screen to get at them. She's snoring.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that the cardinal is Virginia's state bird? One more bit of data:)
Cheers, Pup.
Nancy, I can't get close, although I did stand beneath one in a tree. I'll look out for the bink bink.
ReplyDeleteSusan, I did not know that. I love their insane brightness next to everything else we have here. Sparrows, starlings, pigeons.