Snacking Northern Cardinal

This Northern Cardinal appeared to be contorting himself to get some sort of snack off this tree. Similar to this Eastern Bluebird, I can't tell exactly what the cardinal was eating. Though in general they will eat "leaf buds", I'm fairly sure their inclination to do so varies from plant to plant [1], and I don't know what plant this was. And of course, I can't rule out that there was some sort of tasty bug who had the misfortune of getting spotted by the cardinal. All I can say for sure is that something certainly got the cardinal's attention.

Birds are probably unusually hungry this time of year:

  • Some birds may have recently migrated back to the area, expending lots of energy. Northern Cardinals are around here all year long, though they may be doing small migrations within their winter range [2].
  • Even if this cardinal was here all winter, winter probably isn't considered a "season of plenty" for birds, and he might very well relish food becoming more abundant.
  • Breeding season probably starts soon, and he'll want to be in peak condition to ward off rivals and impress the female cardinals.
May 10, 2023 at the Delaware Raritan Canal
Photo 282313089, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

 

[1] Many trees/shrubs contain some toxins, some of which birds tolerate better than others.

[2] The idea here, which probably happens with some birds, is that the ones we see in the winter may have spent the summer in upstate NY, and the ones we see in summer might spend the winter in Virginia.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Northern Watersnake

Image
This April I went to Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge with the hope (among other hopes) of seeing the Northern Watersnakes during mating season. There were 2 problems with this: I think it was slightly late in the season for this. The boardwalk trail where I had seen them in the past was partially closed due to repairs. So although I didn't see any of the 2+ intertwined snakes that I'd seen in the past, but there were still Northern Watersnakes warming themselves in the sun: April 13, 2023 at Great Swamp Photo 272117862, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) And here's another one coming out of the water. April 13, 2023 at Great Swamp Photo 272119139, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Read more

Female Brown-headed Cowbird

Image
Like quite a few birds, this bird is easier to identify when spotted with her significant other ; she's a Brown-headed Cowbird . Due to their tendency to be monogamous plus plain old birds-of-a-feather behavior, I usually see them with prominently brown-headed males around, greatly improving my confidence in IDing them. My understanding is that Brown-headed Cowbirds are the only obligate brood parasites in my area. Obligate brood parasites have essentially lost all their parenting skills, and thus if they were ever unable to fool other birds into raising their young, they would (almost certainly) go extinct [1]. There are, however, other brood parasites in New Jersey. These are called facultative brood parasites, and these birds will usually raise their own offspring, but will also engage in brood parasitism. (Exactly when birds perform facultative brood parasitism seems variable; one source said it occurred when resources were scarce while another said it occurred when resource
Read more

Rooftop Turkey Vultures

Image
I met these Turkey Vultures by just walking out of my apartment. (I theoretically could have gotten a picture without going outside, but that extra layer of glass can degrade picture quality a little.) Although they don't show up on these rooftops daily, they're not an uncommon visitor to my apartment complex. Similar to this spot of the woods , I wouldn't expect this to be a great place to find carcasses. I'm thinking they're here mostly because: They don't have to worry much about predators up there. They get a pretty good view of the area in case something should happen to succumb. (This apartment was near the top of a hill, providing a better view than most of the other apartments.) Since this picture was from February, it's probably a slightly warmer spot, especially near those furnace vent pipes. Although these are Turkey Vultures, it's also not unusual to see Black Vultures up there too. February 28, 2023 at Finderne Photo 264703396, (c) jpviole
Read more