Nature Bulletin No. 288-A   January 6, 1968
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Richard B. Ogilvie, President
Roland F. Eisenbeis, Supt. of Conservation

****:THE CARDINAL

In our northern states there are many birds that remain all winter. Some 
are year-round residents; others have come from their summer homes 
farther north; a few are strays that failed to migrate with the others of 
their kind. Farther south you would find more variety but people in the 
Chicago area, interested in winter birds, are particularly fortunate. 
Surrounding the city are 50,000 acres of forest preserves offering a 
wide choice of food and cover. About 20 miles west, the Morton 
Arboretum, with its plantations of coniferous trees and wealth of food-
producing shrubs, attracts more kinds of winter birds, perhaps, than 
most other places. In many of the older suburbs, because of their trees 
and shrubbery, and even in some of the larger parks and cemeteries 
within Chicago itself, several kinds may be seen and attracted to 
feeding stations.

Most spectacular of our non-migratory birds is the Cardinal or Cardinal 
Grosbeak, the state bird of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina 
and Ohio. The male is vermilion-red all over, except for a black face 
and throat. Even his heavy beak is orange-red. Almost as large as a 
robin, he has a long tail and a jaunty crest which bristles when he is 
alarmed. His wife also has a red beak but her head and body are olive-
gray above, lighter gray below, with tinges of dull red on her crest, 
wings, tail, and sometimes the breast. Young males are colored much 
like the female, but darker.

In early winter the silence of the woodlands is broken by the tapping of 
the downy and the hairy woodpeckers searching for grubs, occasionally 
the cheerful "Chicka-dee-dee-dee" of the black-capped chickadee or the 
nasal "Yank-yank" of a nuthatch, and -- when they spy you -- the loud 
"Thief, thief, thief! " of the bluejays and the cawing of the crows. But, 
in January, some of the male cardinals start to sing and we hear those 
ringing whistles: "Wet-year, wet-year, weet, weet, weet, weet", or 
'"Whurty, whurty, whurty, whurty". If imitated, they often answer, as 
they do a rival male. About this time, too, the tufted titmouse is heard 
whistling his clear call: "Peter, peter, peter" Later in the year, the 
female cardinals also sing -- almost as well as the males but more softly.

Cardinals seem to prefer thickets and forest edges, Their food is chiefly 
wild fruits, seeds, and a variety of insects including many serious pests. 
They are particularly fond of sunflower, melon, squash and pumpkin 
seeds. It is interesting to watch them squatting on a feed tray or the 
snow-covered ground, methodically crushing sunflower seeds in their 
powerful bills, swallowing the meat, and spitting out the hulls. Before 
daylight every winter morning, a few cardinals and several juncoes are 
waiting at our feeding station. The redbirds fly a short distance away, 
uttering metallic "clinks", when we come to replenish the tray and 
scatter seeds and grain on the ground. Soon after, there may be a dozen 
or more of them busily eating seeds. There is always an old male that 
bosses all the other cardinals but pays no attention to the juncoes 
because they prefer small grain. Toward spring, however, he frequently 
begins to pass seeds to his mate.

Birds have personalities. It is fascinating to see how alert they are, to 
learn the traits of the different kinds, to compare the seed eaters with 
the insect eaters, and to detect the differences between individuals of 
the same kind. Meanwhile, you learn the details of their plumage, 
shape, bill, feet and tail. A feeding station visible from the window of 
your kitchen or breakfast room -- even on the windowsill itself -- is 
ideal for this pastime.

If you want to see 'em: feed 'em.