Sittin’ on a limb

A long lost loved one or dear departed friend

You keep comin’ back to see me every now and then

Who are you redbird, sittin’ on a limb

There’s something about mid-November that seems as colorless as dirt to me. OK, let’s say earthtones. Then this flash of bright red lands nearby looking for the sunflower feeders that the bears took down this week. As a kid I knew them simply as redbirds, but now that I’m a birder, they’re northern cardinals. Though cardinals are around all-year, they keep more to the woods and brush during the summer breeding season. Now, however, they will start coming in large numbers with their more subdued and elegantly-dressed partners. Soon the bears will finally be asleep, and the feeders can go back up for these welcome stately beauties.

Cardinals were named by early European colonists who were struck by their color and its resemblance to the scarlet robes and birettas (hats) of Roman Catholic cardinals. At the time of the exploration of North America, these human cardinals were not only religious figures but had often assumed roles of secular importance and political power (e.g. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in the reign of Henry VIII). For the avian version, the red color derives from the carotenoids in their diet deposited in their feathers. Cardinals love the fall berries of the dogwood tree, for example, which are rich in red-pigmented carotenoids. Red, orange, and yellow coloration in birds usually comes from such actual pigments found in their feathers as distinct from blue coloration (eastern bluebird or blue jays) that results from the way that light is refracted by their feathers. If you grind up a cardinal’s feather, you will have a bright red powder. If you grind up a bluebird’s feather, the resulting powder will be dull brown.

Not surprisingly, a flock of cardinals is called a conclave, a congress, even a Vatican or, more lyrically, a radiance. While small flocks are common, cardinals tend to hang out in monogamous pairs even beyond the breeding season. In fact, they tend to mate for life. Northern cardinals are non-migratory and found in all regions of the United States except for the northwest. The other less common subspecies are mostly tropical. Seven states have adopted cardinals as state bird, the most of any species.

Cardinals have a large variety of songs with both males and females engaged in singing. A favorite of mine is also the ring tone on my phone bringing a reminder of this colorful bird whenever someone calls me. Cardinals are believed to bring luck and good fortune and to be spiritual messengers from lost loved ones as in the Milan Miller lyrics above.