Wild Life / northern cardinal
late winter awakening
Hello, friends — For most of February we were encased in an icing-like layer of snow in Connecticut. It was treacherous and hard on the soul, and sparkled like glass in the sun. Now we’re only a few weeks from spring. The days are longer and the animals are out. The little creatures show the way: the brave, plucky juncos; an eastern cottontail at dawn; even a surprised chipmunk have all crossed my stumbling path. Like them, we keep moving to stay warm. We awake from deep winter because it’s time. Wake up, wake up, wake up. — Amy Jean
The songbirds of late winter are a resilient bunch, singing when the sun is out. Chickadees, nuthatches, tufted titmice, and sparrows make their presence known. I often find northern cardinals on the lower branches of the forsythia, foraging a few feet apart. The male cardinal’s beating-heart red is a beacon, while the female’s tawny warmth gives me hope. A quick glimpse brightens my day.
Northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) are a favorite backyard bird. They are easy to spot and fairly bold and like to sing, from Mexico up to Canada and a little slice of Arizona, too. They are the state bird of no less than seven states: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. The species is in fact named after the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, who sport the same bright red outfits and pointy caps.
When they’re courting, males feed seeds to the females, beak to beak. Pairs tend to stay together over multiple years. So my friends in the forsythia are likely the same ones I saw last year. We are familiar that way, we share the same trees.
In 2019 and again in 2022, backyard birders in Pennsylvania were amazed to see a cardinal with a body that was half red and half sandy soft gray. The birds looked half male and half female because they were. Female-male birds are rare but they are absolutely out there living their lives, maybe more than we know.
The snow melts, the earth warms, life moves. Nature is fluid, again and again—and always.
Northern cardinal links—
Articles on “A Cardinal That’s Half Male, Half Female” with amazing photographs at Erie Bird Conservancy, BirdNote, New York Times, BBC. You can also see a short video of the bird sitting peacefully in a tree at National Geographic.
I like this sweet, sharp video of a female cardinal singing her heart out at Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Spring tip: How to prevent birds from crashing into your windows, at American Bird Conservancy.
Animal encounters in recent comments—
Stories of rats to riches—how a stressful rat infestation became the inspiration for adopting pet rats. I love this, from Jillian. Also, Susan’s escape-artist rats in a classroom came running when she called “Where are you bad rats?” Both of these stories make me curious to have pet rats in a way that I never imagined.
Also—
My Northern Cardinal drawing is for sale. Some of the proceeds will go to the Erie Bird Conservancy.
Last April, I was honored to have an amazing artist residency on Block Island with Low Season Artist Projects. Applications for this spring are now open—for all the visual artists out there, take a look!
Wild Life #48 / this monthly newsletter is a place to learn about the life around us, one beautiful cardinal at a time. I do this because I’m not sure what to do about the millions of species in danger of extinction. It means something to see and enjoy the life around us. Thanks for reading and sharing with family and friends.
As always, I learned something new! Cardinals are so beautiful in winter. They are my mother-in-law's favorite bird. And they play well with the other birds at the feeder in the spring (unlike those bossy Blue Jays).
Phenomenal. <3