Cardinals Doing Fine

September 2, 2018

Northern cardinals nest in the garden behind my condo every year; it’s a good spot for them with trees, water, and food.

They stop by my porchoccasionally and I give them snacks of raisins and peanuts. For the past few days the female pictured above has been going out of her way to make sure I see her when she visits;

she flutters in front of the window or lands on the sill and looks in while chipping loudly.

Not coincidentally, a male cardinal has been stopping by the porch with two big babies in tow. He feeds them mouth-to-mouth or flits around nervously while they feed themselves. The male and female haven’t come to the porch together for a while. Maybe they are working different shifts.

The male is easily spooked when the youngsters are with him and they all fly away when I try to photograph them so adon’t have a 2016 family photo yet. But here is a picture of one of the baby porch cardinals from a previous year.

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Julie Feinstein

I am a Collection Manager at the American Museum of Natural History, an author, and a photographer. I live in New York City. I recently published my first popular science book, Field Guide to Urban Wildlife, an illustrated collection of natural history essays about common animals. I update my blog, Urban Wildlife Guide, every Sunday.