Cardinal question

[ktgrok]

If I see a pair of cardinals at my feeder each day, off and on throughout the day, is it likely the same two cardinals each time? Or are there half a dozen pairs and I just think they are the same, lol? I'm about to name them, since Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal seems so formal, but if it is more likely different birds each time then that would be silly. 

(cause it's not silly otherwise, lol)

At the new house we have a male and female cardinal here every day, some mourning doves, lots of mockingbirds, and sometimes a bluejay or tufted titmouse. But the cardinals are the ones here the most. 

[wintermom]

I believe that cardinals are pretty territorial and etch out a small territory for themself. I've seen the males in our area calling out to males. They'll be 50 - 100 yards apart, sometimes more. The calls sounds like, "This is my domain. Stay out."

It's probably the same pair at your feeder, but you may notice additional young males or females at your feeder. These could be the offspring of the main pair. At least that's my amateur guess from observations made over the years. 😉 

Edited April 7, 2022 by wintermom

[Pawz4me]

I'm pretty sure cardinals mate for life, but I'm not so sure they're territorial? It's normal for us to have 8-10 males at a time around our feeders. Or at least I assume they're males--they're bright red and absolutely beautiful. Our feeders are only about 20 feet apart.

[wintermom]

1 minute ago, Pawz4me said:

I'm pretty sure cardinals mate for life, but I'm not so sure they're territorial? It's normal for us to have 8-10 males at a time around our feeders. Or at least I assume they're males--they're bright red and absolutely beautiful. Our feeders are only about 20 feet apart.

Your feeder must have good stuff!  Yes, the males are bright red, the females are a light brown. 

[Pawz4me]

2 minutes ago, wintermom said:

Your feeder must have good stuff!  Yes, the males are bright red, the females are a light brown. 

Black oil sunflower seeds, plus we have two birdbaths and a good number of trees of various sizes and shapes. Mostly I think they just really like our climate. Right now we have a cardinal nesting in a small tree right outside our back door. We had a cardinal nest there last year, too, so I'm wondering if it's the same pair. Momma bird doesn't seem to mind us moving around during the day, but I have to be careful when I take the dogs out for their last potty break at night. She seems to spook easily then and goes flapping away.

[Rachel]

This is pure speculation on my part, if you are only seeing two at a time, I would think it’s the same two. We get lots of cardinals in our yard, I counted 20 in an approximately 20’x20’ area the other day. It is more unusual for me to only see 2-3 at a time than somewhere around 10. I can’t tell them apart anymore than male, female, or juvenile though. Occasionally when they are moulting I might recognize that it’s the same bird from the day before.

 

[ktgrok]

Mr Red 

[wathe]

Lovely!

We had one for a while who used to perch on side-view mirror of my car and admire himself.

[Spryte]

Mr. Red is beautiful.

Do you participate in the bird counting project? Through Cornell? They specify to count only as many as you see at one time, so you don’t count one bird returning multiple times as several. (Awkward wording is all my own!) I would tend to think it’s the same couple, until you see something like 3 at a time, then call it three, and so on.

We are nerdy bird people here. One of DD’s favorite things to do is sit outside with the birdcall app, and talk to the cardinals. They will do fly-bys and call back. Chickadees are even more fun because they hop closer and closer. Other birds respond as well, but those are the most expressive here.

[ktgrok]

16 minutes ago, Spryte said:

Mr. Red is beautiful.

Do you participate in the bird counting project? Through Cornell? They specify to count only as many as you see at one time, so you don’t count one bird returning multiple times as several. (Awkward wording is all my own!) I would tend to think it’s the same couple, until you see something like 3 at a time, then call it three, and so on.

We are nerdy bird people here. One of DD’s favorite things to do is sit outside with the birdcall app, and talk to the cardinals. They will do fly-bys and call back. Chickadees are even more fun because they hop closer and closer. Other birds respond as well, but those are the most expressive here.

Thank you, I need to look into the bird count. We never were bird people until we did the Gather 'Round North American Bird unit study a few years ago - now we love them! (see previous post of mine about offending DH because he was talking to me about something important and I ran off midsentence yelling "bird!" as a heron walked by). 

I'll try to get a photo of Ms. Scarlett soon - she had just flown off when I grabbed my phone to take pictures. They usually take turns eating. 

[Spryte]

13 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

Thank you, I need to look into the bird count. We never were bird people until we did the Gather 'Round North American Bird unit study a few years ago - now we love them! (see previous post of mine about offending DH because he was talking to me about something important and I ran off midsentence yelling "bird!" as a heron walked by). 

I'll try to get a photo of Ms. Scarlett soon - she had just flown off when I grabbed my phone to take pictures. They usually take turns eating. 

Birds can completely derail a conversation here, too! 

We have a few birds that we only see once a year, as they migrate through, and if one of us spots them, all other things going on just stop. 🤣

[ktgrok]

5 minutes ago, Spryte said:

Birds can completely derail a conversation here, too! 

We have a few birds that we only see once a year, as they migrate through, and if one of us spots them, all other things going on just stop. 🤣

See! You get it, lol! It was a little blue heron - not the Great Blue Herons that I see in Florida fairly often, but a little one. Those I have only seen a few times in my life. 

[Spryte]

2 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

See! You get it, lol! It was a little blue heron - not the Great Blue Herons that I see in Florida fairly often, but a little one. Those I have only seen a few times in my life. 

I love the little blues! I got all excited about that when you posted about it. And completely related.

[Spryte]

For next winter, this is fun:  https://feederwatch.org/

[Lady Florida.]

I agree it's probably the same pair. We had a pair of cardinals at our old house and loved to watch them at the feeders. If you're lucky you'll get to see their young ones too. The juveniles look like females but with black bills instead of the yellow/orange of females. Both male and female take care of them and once we actually saw the dad feeding birdseed to the kid (not baby but definitely still young). It was the coolest thing. Keep watching them! 

Birds are big conversation starters here too. We used to see Little Blue Herons on our favorite wildlife drive near where we used to live. @ktgrok have you been to Orlando Wetlands Park near Christmas? It's such a cool place to see birds. Lately our favorite birds to spot have been pelicans and glossy ibis (not as common as the white ibis we see in yards all over the area, but still plentiful here). I'm still learning to enjoy the shore birds and wading birds that are more common here. And I still miss songbirds, which I rarely see. Fortunately we have plenty of mockingbirds so at least I still get to hear singing.

[ktgrok]

33 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

I agree it's probably the same pair. We had a pair of cardinals at our old house and loved to watch them at the feeders. If you're lucky you'll get to see their young ones too. The juveniles look like females but with black bills instead of the yellow/orange of females. Both male and female take care of them and once we actually saw the dad feeding birdseed to the kid (not baby but definitely still young). It was the coolest thing. Keep watching them! 

Birds are big conversation starters here too. We used to see Little Blue Herons on our favorite wildlife drive near where we used to live. @ktgrok have you been to Orlando Wetlands Park near Christmas? It's such a cool place to see birds. Lately our favorite birds to spot have been pelicans and glossy ibis (not as common as the white ibis we see in yards all over the area, but still plentiful here). I'm still learning to enjoy the shore birds and wading birds that are more common here. And I still miss songbirds, which I rarely see. Fortunately we have plenty of mockingbirds so at least I still get to hear singing.

I have not been to there - I will check it out! Christmas isn't far from us at all. 

I do love pelicans, especially the migrating white ones. I had to look up glossy Ibis, not sure I've seen those. We see tons of the white ones, obviously, and sometimes storks, lots of egrets and various herons when out driving around or at parks and such. At the house mostly doves, mockingbirds, cardinals, and tufted titmice. I do think I saw a grey catbird today, and about once a week or so a bluejay shows up. 

[MEmama]

Katie, have you seen the movie The Big Year with Owen Wilson and Jack Black? We watched it again right before New Years and decided on the spot to get more into birding. 🙂 We have become those geeky people on the trail with binoculars and a bird book. Lol

We just went out for a walk in the neighborhood and watched a pileated woodpecker for a couple minutes before we realized we were gawking from the middle of the street. Oops! We hear them all the time but don’t frequently get to actually see them in action.

It seems we see more cardinals every year in our yard. They are one of DH'S favorites because they remind him of back home. For sure the climate is changing here so I wonder if that’s why? 
 

 

[Pawz4me]

39 minutes ago, MEmama said:

 

We just went out for a walk in the neighborhood and watched a pileated woodpecker for a couple minutes before we realized we were gawking from the middle of the street. Oops! We hear them all the time but don’t frequently get to actually see them in action.

 

We have several woodpeckers who visit our feeders in the winter, including at least one pileated. Of course I'm never sure if it's the same one I'm seeing, but it's always just one at a time. FWIW, our tree guy says it's bad news if you see one pecking on a tree. It's a sign the tree is probably dead/dying. That's maybe a tidbit that's fairly common knowledge, but it was news to me.

[ktgrok]

1 hour ago, MEmama said:

Katie, have you seen the movie The Big Year with Owen Wilson and Jack Black? We watched it again right before New Years and decided on the spot to get more into birding. 🙂 We have become those geeky people on the trail with binoculars and a bird book. Lol

We just went out for a walk in the neighborhood and watched a pileated woodpecker for a couple minutes before we realized we were gawking from the middle of the street. Oops! We hear them all the time but don’t frequently get to actually see them in action.

It seems we see more cardinals every year in our yard. They are one of DH'S favorites because they remind him of back home. For sure the climate is changing here so I wonder if that’s why? 
 

 

I have not. Will watch soon!

 

[ktgrok]

I have tried to take Ms Scarlett’s photo four times today and she’s flew off each time. (I know she isn’t very red but I still named her that)

I do have two doves at the feeder- and a kitty looking at them with murder in her eyes. She ignors the other birds but really wants to get the doves. They come at the same time each evening. 

[MEmama]

16 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

We have several woodpeckers who visit our feeders in the winter, including at least one pileated. Of course I'm never sure if it's the same one I'm seeing, but it's always just one at a time. FWIW, our tree guy says it's bad news if you see one pecking on a tree. It's a sign the tree is probably dead/dying. That's maybe a tidbit that's fairly common knowledge, but it was news to me.

Wow—I had no idea pileated woodpeckers will eat off a feeder! We only get downy and hairy on our suet—and some years little baby woodpeckers! ❤️ Do you feed them anything special? 
The photo is pileated woodpecker holes down the street. 🙂 

[ktgrok]

[Spryte]

1 minute ago, MEmama said:

Wow—I had no idea pileated woodpeckers will eat off a feeder! We only get downy and hairy on our suet—and some years little baby woodpeckers! ❤️ Do you feed them anything special? 
The photo is pileated woodpecker holes down the street. 🙂 

We have had pileated at ours once or twice, but they are more often on trees. Come to think of it, I can’t recall if they were eating, or just on the deck railing near the feeder. Hmmmm… The ladderbacks, on the other hand, love the feeder!

[Pawz4me]

4 minutes ago, MEmama said:

Wow—I had no idea pileated woodpeckers will eat off a feeder! We only get downy and hairy on our suet—and some years little baby woodpeckers! ❤️ Do you feed them anything special? 

 

We keep sunflower seeds in our feeders and a peanut flavored suet cake out in the winter. They'll eat both of those. I had no idea they'd come to feeders, either, until they started showing up at ours a few years ago. They're quite awkward looking when they're eating from them.

Edited April 7, 2022 by Pawz4me

[MEmama]

4 minutes ago, Spryte said:

We have had pileated at ours once or twice, but they are more often on trees. Come to think of it, I can’t recall if they were eating, or just on the deck railing near the feeder. Hmmmm… The ladderbacks, on the other hand, love the feeder!

I’ve not heard of ladderbacks, and my Birding New England book doesn’t mention them so I had to Google. They are gorgeous!

I forgot we also get red bellied woodpeckers on our feeder, and very rarely a northern flicker.

Woodpeckers might be my second favorite bird, right after hummingbirds. 🙂 

[Spryte]

37 minutes ago, MEmama said:

I’ve not heard of ladderbacks, and my Birding New England book doesn’t mention them so I had to Google. They are gorgeous!

I forgot we also get red bellied woodpeckers on our feeder, and very rarely a northern flicker.

Woodpeckers might be my second favorite bird, right after hummingbirds. 🙂 

I adore them, too, and there are so many types! So pretty! They always make me smile. I don’t think I’ve seen a northern flicker.

We only put out black oil sunflower seeds because nut allergies here, but I should try some other safe options.

We can’t seem to attract more than one or two hummingbirds to visit once in a while. 

Carolina Wrens are my favorite songbird, because I love to hear them when they are nesting.

[MEmama]

46 minutes ago, Spryte said:

I adore them, too, and there are so many types! So pretty! They always make me smile. I don’t think I’ve seen a northern flicker.

We only put out black oil sunflower seeds because nut allergies here, but I should try some other safe options.

We can’t seem to attract more than one or two hummingbirds to visit once in a while. 

Carolina Wrens are my favorite songbird, because I love to hear them when they are nesting.

Despite my efforts I don’t get many hummingbirds either, but they are such a thrill when they do come. My kitties are as entranced by them as I am lol. 

[Lisa]

I totally love bird watching and have many bird feeders.  The cardinals are are so beautiful. They can be territorial but sometimes I have many male and female cardinals at my feeders at one time.

[MrsMommy]

I have Opening Day on the brain, and I thought this was going to be a totally different question! 🙂 

[ktgrok]

Finally got a photo of the lady cardinal! I guess having her hubby with her made her less shy. 

[wintermom]

I should get some of those flat feeders to make it easier for the cardinals, but the squirrels would just hang out and eat everything.

The sunflowers with shells leave a lot of litter on the ground, too, but I can't get shelled sunflowers anymore. Those were the best seed for attracting cardinals.  

Edited April 10, 2022 by wintermom

[Pawz4me]

24 minutes ago, wintermom said:

I should get some of those flat feeders to make it easier for the cardinals, but the squirrels would just hang out and eat everything.

The sunflowers with shells leave a lot of litter on the ground, too, but I can't get shelled sunflowers anymore. Those were the best seed for attracting cardinals.  

We have this feeder and this one and the cardinals seem to love both of them. We keep a squirrel baffle under the first one, but not the second one--we more or less keep that one for the squirrels, but the birds (including lots of cardinals) use it, too.

We feed the sunflower seeds in shells, but our feeders are on mulch so the shell mess isn't a big deal.

[LostSurprise]

Woodpeckers, especially Pileated, like suet. We have several over the winter, but we never had Pileated until we had suet up all the time. 

[Lady Florida.]

1 hour ago, Pawz4me said:

We have this feeder and this one and the cardinals seem to love both of them. We keep a squirrel baffle under the first one, but not the second one--we more or less keep that one for the squirrels, but the birds (including lots of cardinals) use it, too.

We feed the sunflower seeds in shells, but our feeders are on mulch so the shell mess isn't a big deal.

We've had both of those feeders and the cardinals used them. We also had a squirrel baffle. They're persistent little rodents!

54 minutes ago, LostSurprise said:

Woodpeckers, especially Pileated, like suet. We have several over the winter, but we never had Pileated until we had suet up all the time. 

I always bought a fruit and nut mix and our red bellied woodpeckers would come to the feeder.

[theelfqueen]

This was not the kind of Cardinals I was expecting the question to be about... reason unknown.

 

My grandfather had a pair of cardinals frequenting his yard for years. The female had some sort of distinctive marking, so they were sure they were the same ones.  My mom still collects cardinal things that remind her of her dad. 

[happi duck]

17 hours ago, wintermom said:

I should get some of those flat feeders to make it easier for the cardinals, but the squirrels would just hang out and eat everything.

The sunflowers with shells leave a lot of litter on the ground, too, but I can't get shelled sunflowers anymore. Those were the best seed for attracting cardinals.  

Cardinals also like safflower but squirrels usually (ymmv) don't.  We feed safflower in a hanging tray and also on the ground. 

We feed a general mix in a tube feeder with a squirrel baffle in another part of the yard.

[MEmama]

19 hours ago, ktgrok said:

Finally got a photo of the lady cardinal! I guess having her hubby with her made her less shy. 

We’ve been planning to install a platform feeder this spring now that the ground isn’t frozen, but I'd rather not have to put up a new pole (space issues). I really like the feeders in your photo—since they aren’t covered, can you tell me how you keep the food fresh? Do you put out only a small bit and replace it frequently? Any other tips? 

[ktgrok]

2 hours ago, MEmama said:

We’ve been planning to install a platform feeder this spring now that the ground isn’t frozen, but I'd rather not have to put up a new pole (space issues). I really like the feeders in your photo—since they aren’t covered, can you tell me how you keep the food fresh? Do you put out only a small bit and replace it frequently? Any other tips? 

I put out a small amount every few days and wash it about once a week. I stay away from seed blends as the small seeds clogged up the mesh so the seed stayed damp- yuck! Just sunflower seeds in there and I spread it out so there is good drainage and air flow. My pantry is right near that sliding door so easy to grab a scoop of seeds to put in there as needed. 

[Lady Florida.]

On 4/7/2022 at 3:23 PM, ktgrok said:

 

 I do think I saw a grey catbird today, and about once a week or so a bluejay shows up. 

I love grey catbirds. We'd get them occasionally at our feeder at the old house. I don't know why I'd get so excited to see one. They're just... grey. I think it's because I saw them so rarely. We used to get a lot of bluejays but towards the end before we moved there was only one now and then.

20 hours ago, LostSurprise said:

Woodpeckers, especially Pileated, like suet. We have several over the winter, but we never had Pileated until we had suet up all the time. 

It's hard to put out suet here because of our climate. Sometimes you can put it out in the winter but some winters are too warm. It rains and gets hot and humid and then the suet gets disgusting and moldy. When I first started backyard birdwatching and set up feeders I tried suet. I soon stopped putting it out. You can buy it at big box stores that sell bird seed and feeders but it's not a good idea. Especially now with the warm weather and rainy season right around the corner. 

[Spryte]

We see catbirds only once a year here. They show up to eat the berries off of one particular bush, and once they’ve cleared it of berries — they disappear again. Their arrival and brief visit always causes a stir!

 

[MEmama]

59 minutes ago, ktgrok said:

I put out a small amount every few days and wash it about once a week. I stay away from seed blends as the small seeds clogged up the mesh so the seed stayed damp- yuck! Just sunflower seeds in there and I spread it out so there is good drainage and air flow. My pantry is right near that sliding door so easy to grab a scoop of seeds to put in there as needed. 

Thanks. I’ll be sure to avoid small seeds, that’s a good tip!

21 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

I love grey catbirds. We'd get them occasionally at our feeder at the old house. I don't know why I'd get so excited to see one. They're just... grey. I think it's because I saw them so rarely. We used to get a lot of bluejays but towards the end before we moved there was only one now and then.

It's hard to put out suet here because of our climate. Sometimes you can put it out in the winter but some winters are too warm. It rains and gets hot and humid and then the suet gets disgusting and moldy. When I first started backyard birdwatching and set up feeders I tried suet. I soon stopped putting it out. You can buy it at big box stores that sell bird seed and feeders but it's not a good idea. Especially now with the warm weather and rainy season right around the corner. 

I love catbirds too. Just grey, yeah lol, but so pretty. And they really do sound like cats!

Although obviously not as bad as yours, we have humid summers too so I cut suet up and put only 1/4 cake at a time in summer to prevent wasting too much (so gross when it gets moldy). The birds here eat more of it during winter and spring when of course it’s frozen (or as frozen as fat gets).

[MEmama]

DH just got back from a bike ride and saw a great horned owl! We are hoping to go back to the nest after dinner. 🤞

[Lady Florida.]

9 minutes ago, MEmama said:

DH just got back from a bike ride and saw a great horned owl! We are hoping to go back to the nest after dinner. 🤞

We went to nearby wetlands the other day and saw baby a baby barred owl in the nest. We were hoping to see mom come back but it was getting late and the gate closes at 7pm so we had to leave. Barred owls are the most common owls here but most common doesn't mean we see them all the time. It was pretty cool to see a young one.

We had one somewhere nearby at our old house. We'd occasionally see it in the trees but often at night we'd hear them - they're the "who cooks for you?" owls.

Edited April 11, 2022 by Lady Florida.

[ktgrok]

59 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

I love grey catbirds. We'd get them occasionally at our feeder at the old house. I don't know why I'd get so excited to see one. They're just... grey. I think it's because I saw them so rarely. We used to get a lot of bluejays but towards the end before we moved there was only one now and then.

It's hard to put out suet here because of our climate. Sometimes you can put it out in the winter but some winters are too warm. It rains and gets hot and humid and then the suet gets disgusting and moldy. When I first started backyard birdwatching and set up feeders I tried suet. I soon stopped putting it out. You can buy it at big box stores that sell bird seed and feeders but it's not a good idea. Especially now with the warm weather and rainy season right around the corner. 

Yup - same here. Tried it, only one that really ate it were the rats, and it got moldy SO fast. Gross. I don't bother anymore. 

29 minutes ago, MEmama said:

Thanks. I’ll be sure to avoid small seeds, that’s a good tip!

I love catbirds too. Just grey, yeah lol, but so pretty. And they really do sound like cats!

 

OH!!!! I heard a bird the other day that sounded like a cat, and was wondering what it was. Didn't even occur to me that's what a cat bird sounds like. Duh!

17 minutes ago, Lady Florida. said:

We went to nearby wetlands the other day and saw baby a baby barred owl in the nest. We were hoping to see mom come back but it was getting late and the gate closes at 7pm so we had to leave. Barred owls are the most common owls here but most common doesn't mean we see them all the time. It was pretty cool to see a young one.WeWe had one somewhere nearby at our old house. We'd occasionally see it in the trees but often at night we'd hear them - they're the "who cooks for you?" owls.

We had one nesting behind our old house, and there are some here as well - they sound like a pack of monkeys if you get a few calling to each other! Woke us up at night sometimes, and the calling freaks my dog out, lol. 

[wintermom]

1 hour ago, MEmama said:

DH just got back from a bike ride and saw a great horned owl! We are hoping to go back to the nest after dinner. 🤞

So cool. I have some video and sound footage from my first encounter with a great horned owl (I'm pretty sure) last week. The photo is too far away to see well, but it  was repeating a haunting, almost hypnotic 'hoo hoo HOO' call that drew you in without even realizing. 

 

[TravelingChris]

I know I have a Caroline Wren who knows us.  She gets angry if food isn't where she wants it and also every late Spring, wants us to put up hanging New Guinea impations up on our front porch so that she can nest there.

[MEmama]

23 minutes ago, wintermom said:

So cool. I have some video and sound footage from my first encounter with a great horned owl (I'm pretty sure) last week. The photo is too far away to see well, but it  was repeating a haunting, almost hypnotic 'hoo hoo HOO' call that drew you in without even realizing. 

 

Wow that’s a great shot! It’s huge!

[wintermom]

Just now, MEmama said:

Wow that’s a great shot! It’s huge!

It really is huge. This owl was way, way up in a spruce tree tree. I was really glad I didn't have my puppy with me. Would have been a tasty snack for Mr. Owl.

 

[MEmama]

We went back to the owl nest before dinner, and despite the bad photo we got an incredible view of it. The tufts are clearly visible, but we could also see its huge eyes staring right at us. What a thrill! 

[Rachel]

1 hour ago, MEmama said:

We went back to the owl nest before dinner, and despite the bad photo we got an incredible view of it. The tufts are clearly visible, but we could also see its huge eyes staring right at us. What a thrill! 

How cool! Our yard is in the territory for a Great Horned Owl but he (I assume) only visits at night and usually in the winter. The tree he goes to isn’t too far from our back door and he “barks” at us if he thinks we are getting too close.

 

In the past couple weeks I’ve been able to witness a pair of blue jays build a nest, and now mama jay is incubating her eggs. I can see her from the living room window and have watched papa bring her worms, he alerts her, and they meet at a branch 15’ away. I’ve also seen her run off squirrels and grackles that she thought were getting too close. I got to see how she handled hail, held her beak up and stayed right on that nest. I wanted to go hold an umbrella over her but figured that would spook her. I don’t know exactly when she laid her eggs but I think it will be at least another week to 10 days before they hatch. This is the first time I’ve ever gotten to witness birds actively nesting, my kids think I’m a bit obsessed.  

This is a super zoomed in cell photo so not super clear, but you can see her!

Edited April 12, 2022 by Rachel