• Thursday-What'sUP February 7 - 09:17 am

We don't see Cardinals as often here in the Keweenaw, but Melody Provost Holmes had a few regulars at the feeders near her Norway home. They're such beautiful birds, with the male so brilliantly red and the female a dusty brown color with red tinges.

I learned a few interesting items about cardinals, when researching for my notes here today. First tidbit is that these birds were once prized as a pet, but their sale as a caged bird is now banned here in the U.S.

If their name reminds you of the cardinals who wear red vestments in the Roman Catholic Church, then you're right on about that, since their name actually refers to the red plumage and the similarity with the color of the red robes worn by the Catholic Cardinals.

One last fact…with most songbirds, usually the male is the only one that sings, but with Cardinals, both the male and the female can sing. In fact when you hear the female Cardinal singing from the nest, she's usually telling the male that she needs more food. Would that be the bird version of breakfast in bed?

absolutely WONDERFUL photos. They should be made into Christmas cards!

Beautiful pictures. The Cardinal is truly a magnificent bird. In my area I have only seen one Cardinal in all of my days. In the next to last picture I was glad to see that Mr. Cardinal sent that noise making, food stealing Blue Jay packing.

The first 4 look like they could be Christmas Cards (only 320 days
'till Christmas again).

I love the cardinal pictures today. I agree, the first two photos would make great Christmas card photos! Thank you Melody and Mary. They are beautiful birds.

Very nice!

Omgosh! Those are gorgeous pictures!!

Beautiful pictures! Those birds don't look like they're missing any meals. LOL
Happy Friday!!!

Hi
Stefani13, I think what we're seeing in the pictures is fluffed up feathers, the better to keep warm. Down coats work best when there's plenty of loft.

VERY nice pics, Melody! My mom has two nesting pairs by her house and I love catching a glimpse of that bright red color in the midst of all the white.

Here in central Florida winter brings us a lot of cardinals. I have a feeder just outside my computer window and right now there are several pair of these beautiful birds. As Duane P noted, you folks also have those loud and greedy Blue Jays. We get a few, but I don't miss them. Pretty but a pest.

Looks like the female has a mustache or is it a goatee.

Next to Mockingbirds, Cardinals have always been my favorites.:> There are lots of them around my area.

Birds are so fun to watch.

Cardinals and Bluejays are seen regularly at bird feeders in southwest Ohio.

fantastic pictures!

I had the pleasure to watch a cardinal couple teach their young one how to fly in my backyard a few years ago. I was sitting on a second story deck and watched as the male was on the west end and the female on the east end of my backyard, with the young-un between them taking short flights. A squirrel was roaming inoccently that way, when the male re-routed him. Great morning theater.

Yes, John, that would be a sight to see! Isn't it nice how 'wild creatures' are so protective of their young. Some humans could learn a lot from them.

It's interesting that the dinosaurs kept our early ancestors in check for millions of years and now we feed their descendants for our amusement. What a turn of events . . . .

A hopeful sign SE-MI today, at least 20-30 Robins were feeding off the bushes in the parking lot at lunch time. The temp was around 10 degrees with the sun shining and they kept resting on a black Cadillac to keep warm...now it needs a car wash.

Alex - That seems like the perfect use for a Cadillac!

For shame, David ~ we've owned 3 of 'em ~ they're great American cars!

I owned a 1991 Cadillac for 14 years (1998-2012).

Thomas, our last one was a 1991 ~ we donated it to GoodWill-Auto-Auctions in 2010. It was still a beauty! It brought them $2,500 even though the AC and power windows had 'played out'.