eBirdseed.com Wild Bird Feeding Blog

Hi all,

First things first, the “How Feeding the Birds has Improved My Life" contest is over, and we’ll be announcing a winner shortly. Keep an eye out for possible future contests!

I thought I’d offer a new approach to this blog, and occasionally highlight one particular bird and just talk about him.

Today’s guest is the adult eastern variety of the Northern Cardinal, (Cardinalis cardinalis of the family Cardinalidae). The one below was at our feeders today – a very bright spot in a blustery, overcast December Sunday.



Sorry if the picture above is a little blurry, but the wife has started her holiday baking, and I wasn’t able to set up the tripod and pre-focus the camera in the kitchen as normal. That means that the picture was taken freehand by the wife. (If I on the other hand had taken the picture freehand, you’d be gazing at a wildly-out-of-focus shot of our ceiling.)

A couple of quick tidbits on the Northern Cardinal:

• Supposedly, the cardinal was named because its bright red color matched that of Catholic cardinals’ vestments. That sounds plausible to me.
• Cardinals (the birds that is) only live a year or so.
• It’s the state bird for seven states, (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia).
• During breeding season, the hormone level of cardinals (once again, I’m talking about the birds here) increases by a factor of 300. (No wonder they only live a year...)

One last point... Don’t forget that bird and birding supplies make great holiday gifts!

Well, that does it for me...

See you by the feeders.

CapeCodAlan

References used for this post are listed below:

• Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Wikipedia
• Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources
• Audubon Society
• The National Audubon Society’s “The Sibley Guide to Birds”