Male Northern Cardinal in Winter #4
by J McCombie
Title
Male Northern Cardinal in Winter #4
Artist
J McCombie
Medium
Photograph - Untouched
Description
This piece has been featured in the FAA Group: "Wildlife ...".
The male Northern Cardinal is perhaps responsible for getting more people to open up a field guide than any other bird. Theyre a perfect combination of familiarity, conspicuousness, and style: a shade of red you cant take your eyes off. Even the brown females sport a sharp crest and warm red accents. Cardinals dont migrate and they dont molt into a dull plumage, so theyre still breathtaking in winters snowy backyards. In summer, their sweet whistles are one of the first sounds of the morning. A perennial favorite among people, the Northern Cardinal is the state bird of seven states.
The northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is a North American bird in the genus Cardinalis; it is also known colloquially as the redbird or common cardinal. The northern cardinal is one of three birds in the genus Cardinalis and is included in the family Cardinalidae, which is made up of passerine birds found in North and South America. In 1983, the scientific name was changed to Cardinalis cardinalis and the common name was changed to "northern cardinal", to avoid confusion with the seven other species also termed cardinals. The common name, as well as the scientific name, of the northern cardinal refers to the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, who wear distinctive red robes and caps. The term "northern" in the common name refers to its range, as it is the northernmost cardinal species. The Northern Cardinal is a fairly large, long-tailed songbird with a short, very thick bill and a prominent crest. Cardinals often sit with a hunched-over posture and with the tail pointed straight down. Male cardinals are brilliant red all over, with a reddish bill and black face immediately around the bill. Females are pale brown overall with warm reddish tinges in the wings, tail, and crest. They have the same black face and red-orange bill.
Northern Cardinals tend to sit low in shrubs and trees or forage on or near the ground, often in pairs. They are common at bird feeders but may be inconspicuous away from them, at least until you learn their loud, metallic chip note. Look for Northern Cardinals in inhabited areas such as backyards, gardens, swamps, parks, woodlots, and shrubby forest edges. Northern Cardinals nest in dense tangles of shrubs and vines. It can be found in southern Canada, through the eastern United States from Maine to Texas and south through Mexico.
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.
Many people are perplexed each spring by the sight of a cardinal attacking its reflection in a window, car mirror, or shiny bumper. Both males and females do this, and most often in spring and early summer when they are obsessed with defending their territory against any intruders. Birds may spend hours fighting these intruders without giving up. A few weeks later, as levels of aggressive hormones subside, these attacks should end (though one female kept up this behavior every day or so for six months without stopping). 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.
The northern cardinal is a mid-sized songbird with a body length of 2123 cm (8.39.1 in). It has a distinctive crest on the head and a mask on the face which is black in the male and gray in the female. The male is a vibrant red, while the female is a dull reddish olive. The northern cardinal is mainly granivorous, but also feeds on insects and fruit. The male behaves territorially, marking out his territory with song. During courtship, the male feeds seed to the female beak-to-beak. A clutch of three to four eggs is laid, and two to four clutches are produced each year. It was once prized as a pet, but its sale as a cage bird was banned in the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.
Uploaded
February 21st, 2017
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