Nature Study Monday: Northern Cardinal

In a suburb on New York City town, we see a great many of these brilliant birds and their somewhat lackluster female partners.  They are especially pretty in the winter when they provide a streak of color amidst beds of white.

Cardinals mate for life so when you see one, his partner is likely nearby.  Male cardinals are bright red in color (like the one pictured below).  They are in fact such bright red that one might doubt that their feathers were natural if they were not attached to them!  On a walk over the summer, we found a male cardinal feather and it could just as well have been purchased at a craft store as fallen off of the body of a cardinal.

Cardinals evidently have elaborate calling patterns.  As a bird watching novice, I do not yet have the ears for deciphering calls.  According to The Backyard Birdsong Guide, the male sings more often and has a bolder song than the female.

I have to make sure our seed continues to contain sunflower seeds as they evidently like them!  What a beautiful crimson gift these are to our morning eyes.