Tag Archives: Northern Cardinals

Bird of the Week

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Bird of the Week: CLXV

My bird of the week is the Northern Cardinal with the scientific name Cardinalis cardinalis. We have a cardinal couple who have visited daily for more than a year. I’ve named the male “Red” and the female “Mrs.”

Yesterday, I had a close encounter with Red. I slept in and was late filling the bird feeder. As I sat drinking coffee by a window, Red flew a few inches from the window and stared at me. He flapped his wings hovering in place. I got the message. He sat above me on a tree branch as I filled the feeder and was the first bird to hit the feeder.

If Red wants food, he isn’t shy. Usually he sings loudly at me. But approaching the window for my attention was a first.

Cardinals are song birds and they have distinctive songs and calls. Here’s a LINK to their sounds from All About Birds.

Mrs. doesn’t have the bright red coloring of the males. Female cardinals are tan with olive tones and highlights of red-orange on their crest, tail and wings. Their bill is a bright coral. Males are typically brilliant red with a black mask. There is a rare genetic mutation that causes cardinals to be bright yellow. There’s only been a few sightings in the wild of yellow cardinals.

Cardinals are located in North America from the southwest, parts of Mexico across the US to the entire east coast. Their size, according to All About Birds, is length: 8.3–9.1 inches (21–23 cm) weight: 1.5–1.7 oz (42–48 g) and wingspan: 9.8–12.2 inches (25–31 cm).

Fun facts about Cardinals:

Male and female cardinals mate for life.

They are-non migratory and are year-round residents — even in the snow.

Cardinals are territorial and will chase other male cardinals away.

Early settlers in North America from Europe named the cardinals after Catholic cardinals because their bright red plumage reminded them of red robes worn by clergy.

Many people believe that cardinals represent a visit from a loved one who has passed away.

I’m thrilled to have Red and Mrs. take up residency in our backyard. I hope to see fledglings someday. But in the meantime, they are my favorite subjects to photograph.

Thanks to fellow blogger from Down Under Bushboy for suggesting I join the Bird of the Week challenge.

What facts about Cardinals were new to you? Do you have any to add?

Did you know….?

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I wanted to know more about my backyard buddies, so I looked up a few facts. I’m sharing them with you along with photos I took this week. I hope you enjoy them and they add a delight and smile to your day!

Papa Quail sits high above other quail on a bench on a raised patio. I love how there’s always one quail acting as a sentinel as his mate and covey eat on the ground. If he senses danger, he’ll call out.

This male House Finch beauty has been hanging out on our cactus statue the last few days. They are common in Arizona and eat seeds and have a beautiful song.

Although this guy looks like a chipmunk he’s a Harris’s Antelope Squirrel. I wonder how he got the name “antelope?” I learned that they regulate their temperature by “heat dumping” which is laying in the shade spread out on their tummy when they are overheated. They use their tail as an umbrella to create shade. They live in underground burrows that they dig under shrubs or trees.

I captured a White-Winged Dove and Mourning Doves at the Bird Buddy Feeder. Here are a few facts:

White-Winged Doves can fly 25 or more miles to find water. In the Sonoran Desert, they are able to obtain needed moisture from saguaro cactus fruit. When migrating they can travel in groups of up to 4000 birds to nesting sites.–Arizona Sonora Desert Museum

From Birds and Blooms about Mourning Doves:

They are gentle, quiet, and calming birds known for their soft cooing and for feeding on ground-scattered seeds, often helping clean up feeders. They are viewed as symbols of peace, love, and hope, often nesting on flat surfaces like planters, patio eaves, or windowsills.

Fun Cardinal Facts:

Photos below of Red, the male, and Mrs., the female half of the Northern Cardinal couple, who live in the wash behind our home.

Northern Cardinals are iconic, non-migratory songbirds known for their brilliant red plumage, distinctive crests, and year-round presence in North America. Both males and females sing, with females often singing from the nest to communicate with their mates. They are monogamous, highly territorial, and are the state bird for seven US states. — Birds and Blooms

Happy Friday! What are your weekend plans?

Red and Mrs. Among Friends

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Red and Mrs. are my Northern Cardinal couple who live in a cholla cactus in the wash beyond our backyard fence. They have been arriving daily, but separately. Perhaps there are babies on the way and someone has to be in the nest at all times?

Red arrived and sat on his favorite pink flamingo. I watched him nibble and bite at the flamingo’s head. Maybe seeds blew down from the tree onto the flamingo?

Mrs. watched quail, a mourning dove and house sparrow devour a seed block.

I saw a strange sight. Two female cardinals together on our patio. They flew away before I could get a photo. One was larger than the other. I googled how or why two females would be together. First, I learned that it could be due to an abundance of birds in the area — which we have. Second, it could be mother and fledgling.

Mother cardinals are dedicated caregivers, often seen feeding and guiding their fledglings, which are brown-grey with dark beaks and sparse feathers. Fledglings leave the nest within 10-12 days but rely on parents to feed them for several more weeks while learning to fly. Parents, including the mother, frequently feed young on the ground or in low shrubs. –Allaboutbirds.org

Red got tired of being ignored by the flamingo, so he moved on.

The papa quail and mourning dove were more sociable to Red than the stuffy flamingo.

Mrs. told a quail couple about her visit with the other female cardinal.

Mrs. found a perch on the cactus statue to watch over the backyard actors.

Red gave the flamingo one more chance to chat.

Which is your favorite photo and why?

My brain is mush!

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I did it! I got our taxes ready for the CPA. I realized because of my foot surgery late January, I was behind my usual timeframe. I also had a hard time focusing. But powering through Friday, Saturday and Sunday — I did it! But now my brain feels like a bowl of mush.

Consequently, there will few words on this post. I’ll rely instead on photos of mostly Red and one of Mrs.

I like the photo above because of the flower. It looks like Red is wearing a fancy head ornament. I’ve had a few close encounters with Red. I call out to him and he doesn’t flit away like normal. I’ve been a few feet away from him as he waits for me to fill the bird feeder.

Red with a House Sparrow.

Red waiting for his turn in the feeder.

Mrs. on the fence.

More Red photos. He hung out last evening right outside the casita.

My goal for 2026 is to be better organized with the taxes. It’s something I could do monthly, to keep track of my husband’s business and rental home expenses, rather than power through 12 months the following year! But I’m already starting out behind the curve, two and half months behind.

Do you have a strategy for preparing taxes that works for you?

If so, please share and give me some tips!

Giving the boot

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Red and Mrs. are back to a normal routine in our backyard. Maybe this spring we’ll have some baby Reds?

Yesterday was a Red Letter Day — plus I got the photo above of Red! I went to my post op appointment with my favorite surgeon. My surgery on my foot was a little over two weeks ago. The dressing and sutures were removed. Yay! I finally get a look at my “elective foot” as Tippy Gnu from Chasing Unicorns called it. (That’s in reference to the procedure first denied by our insurance company. They said it wasn’t medically necessary.) Like I wrote before, what is necessary about walking and wearing shoes?

My foot is black, blue and swollen. The bright news? I wore flip flops out of the doctor’s office instead of the infamous boot.

Here’s the boot from last June, post ankle surgery.

The infamous boot where it sits today until next time.

I would love to toss the boot into the trash. But my surgeon said I may need to have a follow up surgery in the distant future if I have pain. I’ve placed the boot in my closet up on a shelf where Olive the cat would sit and watch birds.

I’m excited to get out of the house and I’m meeting my lunch bunch at Kiki Rae’s. It’s a cute restaurant in Cave Creek with Pacific Northwest specialities like clam chowder, fish and chips and steamers. They even serve Seattle Dogs which are hot dogs with cream cheese and caramelized onions. As a native of the PNW, it’s a treat to have a restaurant serving my favorite foods from childhood and college.

My lunch bunch are two friends from my previous life in Palm Springs, pre kids. They were graphic designers I worked with in my PR Days. When I moved to Arizona a friend told me to look them up — they moved here 10 years before me. We’re all within a few miles of each other and meet up for lunch several times a year.

Here’s to giving the boot to the boot, regular visits by Red and feeling better!

What are some of your favorite foods from your childhood?

Do you have traditional or specific foods that are unique to your area?

There’s no place like home!

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My first day back home and I was thrilled to have visits by Red and Mrs. They haven’t been fed in the week that we were away, so I was afraid they left. My husband reminded me that they live in the wild. All of our birds have to find their own food — unless I’m home.

Mrs. the cutie pie was first to arrive after I put out the seed block. The seed blocks usually last four days. This one was gone within 24 hours. The birds must have been hungry. The pouring rain didn’t stop them from feasting.

Red and friends munching away.

This wet momma quail was hanging out under a bench to get out of the rain.

Can you see the rain on the barrel cactus spines?

The last bits of the seed block enjoyed by quail, sparrows and Red.

No, the quail aren’t fat, but fluffed up their feathers to protect from the rain.

Red with his House Sparrow buddies braving the rain.

What’s happening with your winter weather?

If you have a favorite photo, which one is it?

Early birds

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Bird Buddy updated their app with a new feature. On live streaming on my phone, I can now snap photos. That’s how I got the photo above. Before, the app took photos on its own and for some reason, the Cardinal wasn’t getting many photos. I mostly got Mourning Doves and a Curved Bill Thrasher. My Cardinal couple probably flit away too quickly to get their pics taken. Now, when I spot them at the feeder, I can take their pictures. FYI, that’s a sunflower seed stuck to the bird’s beak or he’s in the process of chomping it down.

Enough with birds. This post was meant to be about changing my schedule back to being an early bird. It hit 90 degrees last week, which meant after I woke up between 6 and 7 a.m., wrote my morning pages, Bible readings, shower, etc. it was too warm outside. Although I still walked, I needed to make a change. The answer was to flip the script, get out of bed earlier and straight to walking. The rest of my morning routine could wait until after our walk.

The temperatures dropped to a low of 50, high of 70 degrees, but I decided to stick with the new schedule. I found it hard enough to get out of bed an hour earlier for a few days until I got used to it. Now that I’m used to it, I’ll stick with it throughout the summer.

My husband decided to make our morning walk more challenging by rucking. What is rucking you ask?

Rucking is the action of walking with weight on your back. Walking with a weighted rucksack (aka backpack) is a low impact exercise based on military training workouts.

Hiking is rucking in the mountains and urban hiking is simply called rucking. You’ve probably even spent time rucking – traveling, bringing books to school, or on your commute to work. Carrying weight is a necessary part of life, and as it turns out, humans are naturally good at it, too.

ACTIVE RESISTANCE TRAINING™

Rucking builds muscle and strength while improving cardio and endurance. Bringing both types of exercises together provides a fuller range of benefits to improve your health. You can burn up to 3x more calories than walking.

https://www.goruck.com/pages/what-is-rucking

I don’t know why, but he’s embarrassed about his new rucking hobby. I think it’s too cute. Rucking is a popular thing now, not quite like pickleball, but more and more people are doing it. But hubby is motivated to get out the door early to avoid any neighbors seeing him with a rucksack on his back. Today, we saw ran into someone when we were less than a block from home.

“Five minutes earlier and we would have made it,” he said.

How does your schedule change with the seasons?

Have you heard of rucking before and do you think you’ll try it?