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| Male Northern Cardinal |
Fun Facts About the Northern Cardinal
- State bird of 7 US states
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kentucky
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Diet consists of seeds, insects and berries
- Also known as redbird
- Featured as the name of numerous athletic teams including my favorite St. Louis Cardinal baseball team.
- Beautiful songbirds who sing year round. Loud whistling song that has many variations including: cheer,cheer,cheer and purty,purty,purty.
- Male sings to defend nesting territory.
- Cardinals do not migrate and live their entire lives within a few miles.
- Cardinal lifespan can be up to 15 years.
Thanks goes to my granddaughter Kate for sharing some of her Cardinal facts with me.
Differences between Male and Female Cardinals
The male Cardinal is perhaps the mostly widely recognized bird in the USA. Male is completely red except for small black mask and a black chin. These birds have heavy bills to deal with their diets.
Although the female is duller in color, I think they are equally beautiful. They are a tawny brown with a small amount of red on the crest, wings and tail. I love their bright orange/red beak.
Photos of Cardinals in my Backyard
Products with Northern Cardinals
Because they are such a colorful and popular birds you can find numerous products that feature cardinals. A search on Amazon will show you toys, household decorating items and much more. Here are a couple that caught my eye.
I love this colorful Cardinal trivet. What a great way to bring this colorful bird into your home.
I love this colorful Cardinal trivet. What a great way to bring this colorful bird into your home.
If you are looking for some decorations with Cardinals for your deck or patio this beautiful wind chime is just for you. I love the sound of chimes in the wind and I'm sure you will love this colorful decoration.
Naturally I love the Cardinal because of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, but also because they are such a bright and beautiful bird. Your photos are gorgeous, as always, Mary Beth.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard not to love that dash of red in your backyard, especially when it snows. Mary Beth, I have to say, I do believe that is the most beautiful picture I have ever seen of the female cardinal. I've never noted that she had a touch of red in her wings before. I've always simply identified her by her crest. They really are beautiful birds and all of your photos are magnificent!
ReplyDeleteOne of my most favorite birds! You have captured some lovely photos of both male and female cardinals. I love to watch them in my backyard, too.
ReplyDeleteLove Cardinals like most people. That Red in the winter brightens everything up!
ReplyDeleteI do love photographs of Red Cardinals, one day I might get to see one in real life. I also have to say I love the lighthouse bird house, I have never seen one of those before and it looks gorgeous (matches the Red Cardinal beautifully)
ReplyDeleteLove their bright color. My friend and her hubby have taken so many bird photos, between what I red here and all I learn from them, I'm becoming a bird expert lol. In our yard we have this one blue jay that seems to have taken up residence. Birds are lovely to watch, from a distance. I could never be in a room with a bird flying around. My friends have no problem with letting their pet bird out to fly around and land on their heads! They know it's a bit of phobia for me though.
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