August 17 – BOTD – Northern Cardinal

Here is my entry for Granny Shot It’s  Bird of the Day (BOTD) challenge.

Male Cardinal

Talk about a bird that gets around! What is a Cardinal? A Major League Baseball team?…yep! A team in the National Football League?….yep! A bishop in the Catholic Church Hierarchy….yep! Most of all it is a symbol & one of beauty in its own right! The Northern Cardinal serves as promise, hope & peace during the Christmas holidays. There is no mistaking this bird with its tufted head, black mask & bright red tones. Although the female displays the same tufted head and black mask, she sports buff brown outer feathers with undertones of red & orange. Adults have bright orange beaks, while the juveniles will have a black beak until they reach adulthood. Cardinals can have 2-3 broods per year. The male can be found feeding the young of the first brood while the female builds the next nest. We have had at least 4 pairs of cardinals with fledglings in our yard this year. Watching this unfold year after year is a treasure! Never gets old!