|
Cardinal | |
|
 |
 |
Adult Cardinals are 7.5 to 8.5 inches long and weigh about 1.4 to 1.8 ounces. Males and females are approximately the same size. Males are bright red with a black face, while females are buff brown with dark red in the tail, wings and crest. Both sexes have a prominent crest. Legs are dark flesh colored and the iris is dark brown. There are no regional differences in the cardinal’s size and appearance.
Young cardinals do not attain their adult plumage until their first winter. They appear most like the female until late fall when they begin to develop their adult colors.
Cardinals are found throughout the eastern United States and Mexico. They have greatly increased their range over the last one hundred years and have only been found in New England since the 1940’s and 50’s. This may be due in part to the increase of edge type habitat (small trees and shrubs bordering fields) in the Northeast.
Cardinals foraging away from feeding stations eat corn, fruit and insects. Grapes appear to be the cardinals favorite fruit, consuming the seeds of the fruit, rather than the pulp. Beetles appear to be their favorite insect food, followed by grasshoppers, moths and their caterpillars. About two thirds of the cardinals diet during the warmer months is animal based, where as in the colder months three quarters will be vegetable based. This is probably due mostly to the availability of insects only in the warmer months in the northern area of the cardinal’s range.
Studies at feeding stations reveal that cardinals prefer whole sunflower seeds (black oil and striped), sunflower hearts and safflower. They will also eat, but do not prefer, cracked corn, peanuts and white millet.
Northern Cardinals produce a variety of different calls, with each call serving a different function. The “chip” call, having a metallic like quality, is the most frequent. It is used singularly and repeated slowly to allow cardinals to locate each other, and is repeated quickly to indicate alarm. They are also used to signal aggression, the volume and rate of calling indicating the level of the aggression.
Another type of call is the “kwut” or “chuck” call. These are usually used singularly and have a harsher sound than the “chip”. They indicate a high level of excitement, so are used generally during aggressive encounters or when predators are near. Sometimes the “chip” and “kwut” call are used together (“chip-kwat”, “chip-kwat”, “chip-kwat”). This combination is generally used when a rival cardinal is very close and a confrontation is eminent.
Other less frequently used calls include a “rattle” or “chitter” used as a warning. The female cardinal will sometimes utter a “see” call indicating she is receptive to mating. Cardinals when captured by a human or a predator can utter a loud “shriek” or “scream”. The purpose of this is probably an attempt to attract an additional, larger predator. During the ensuing commotion the cardinal would attempt to escape.
Of course the best known cardinal vocalizations are their songs. Unlike most species of birds, the female cardinal is just as proficient a singer as the male, however she sings much less often. The typical song sounds something like “what-cheer”, “what-cheer”, “what-cheer”, or “purdy”, “purdy”, “purdy”, “whoit”, “whoit”, “whoit”. The repetition of the different syllables varies between song types with most cardinals having repertoires of eight to twelve song types. Series of songs are sung with short intervals (five to eight seconds) in between songs. These groups of songs are called bouts, usually consisting of ten to twenty five songs per bout, with the interval between individual bouts varying from several minutes to hours. The length of bouts is higher earlier in the mating season and the intervals between bouts is shorter.
Male cardinals begin to sing in January as the days get longer, but do not sing in earnest until early March. Singing continues through August. Males will change their songs to discourage other males and will also join with females in duets. Young cardinals begin to learn to sing at three weeks of age. At first they appear to mimic their parents. When they get older they start to improvise their own syllables and songs.
The breeding season lasts from February through September, with nesting beginning in April to mid-May and lasting through August to early September. Male cardinals attempt to pair and mate in their first year, but may not be successful due to competition from older cardinals and inexperience. Cardinals are monogamous, forming pair bonds that usually last through the breeding season. The pair will then reunite at the start of the next season, sometimes as early as January.
Before a female first chooses a mate they may “date” for a short period while she judges his quality. She appears to base this on the males plumage (redder is better), territory quality, courtship feeding, courtship flight displays and singing ability. It is thought that the duet between male and female serves as a chance for the female to see how the male measures up. All of these factors indicate the health and strength of the male, and a stronger male is likely to father stronger offspring.
Cardinal pairs will attempt to raise between three and five broods, of three to four chicks, each season. Generally only about 15 to 30 percent of all nests are successful. The most frequent cause of failure is predation by snakes and small mammals. A female cardinal will begin another clutch of eggs as quickly as four days after the loss of a nest.
Nests are usually built in low shrubs or trees located along the edges of woods or sometimes in more open areas if the vegetation is thick enough. The female is primarily responsible for choosing the nest site and building the nest, although the male does assist in both. The base of the nest is made of stiff weed stems, which the female bends with her beak to form the correct nest shape. Softer layers of dead leaves are then added, often held in place by intertwined ribbons of soft bark. The next layer consist of bark from grape vines or fine weed stems. The nest is usually lined with very fine grass or weed stems.
Females usually lay three or four eggs, with a range from one to six eggs in a clutch. One egg is laid every 24 hours until the clutch is complete. The female begins to incubate the eggs after the last one is laid, keeping them between 98 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit. During incubation the male brings food to the female either at the nest or a short distance away from the nest. The couple will communicate at these times by singing to each other. Neither the male or female will attempt to defend the nest against a predator. Their strategy appears to be to avoid injury from a predator and begin to construct a new nest as quickly as possible. Eggs are incubated for twelve or thirteen days, with the hatching process taking about twelve to sixteen hours.
At hatching, cardinals are naked, blind and immobile, and must be kept warm by the brooding female until they are six days old. The nestlings are fed insects, primarily soft bodied larvae such as caterpillars, by both parents, but receive more from the male. The young produce membrane covered feces called fecal sacks. These are eaten by the parents for the first four to five days, after which time they are removed some distance from the nest.
At hatching cardinals will weigh about 3 grams, growing to 30 to 35 grams (three quarters of adult weight) before fledging, or leaving the nest at ten or eleven days of age. After fledging, young cardinals are capable of only short ten to twenty foot flights, and will stay close to the nest area. During this time the parents will locate them and continue to feed them, adding seeds and plant material to the diet of insects. About ten days after leaving the nest they will start to follow their parents and forage for themselves, becoming independent about forty days after leaving the nest.
Providing the cardinal’s favorite seeds (see diet) in a platform, hopper style or other sturdy feeder as well as providing water is a good start to attracting cardinals to your yard. Also consider their preference for “edge” type habitat along fields or woods where low, thick, shrubs or other vegetation is common. Eastern red cedars provide good roosting and nesting sites, as do junipers, American holly, and hawthorns. Grapevines provide good cover, food and bark for nest building. Other food sources include dogwoods, blackberries, and hackberries. Certain weeds, because of the seeds they produce, are also attractive to cardinals including doveweeds, knotweeds, ragweeds, foxtail, lamb’s quarter, crabgrass and sedges.
Happy Birding!