Who would have thought that Southern Arizona would be home to the Northern Cardinal! And, what a delight to see one flitting through the bush! Fact is, this colorful bird is found in woodlands, gardens, scrublands and swamps from southern Canada through the eastern United States from Maine to Texas--then south through Mexico to northern Guatemala and Belize, then west to parts of southern Arizona and just a tiny bit of western New Mexico.

Feeding on insects, fruit and seed, this is an opportunistic bird. The male is colorful and about 8-9 inches long and female is brown. Both have bright red bills, and the male is very territorial. However, he designates his territory by song and during courtship, feeds seed to the female, beak to beak. The male sings out a loud clear note to mark his territory, preferably from the top of a tall tree, and then chases off any weaker males. Songs seemed to be regional and mated pairs seem to travel together. They also have a metallic 'Chip" sound when a predator gets too close to their nest, which usually had a clutch of 3-4 eggs. They are busy little birds as two to four clutches can be produced each year.

Predators include Cooper's hawks, loggerhead shrikes, northern shrikes, eastern gray squirrel, long-eared owls, and eastern screech owls. Egg and fledgling predators include mile snakes, coluber constrictors, blue jays, fox squirrels and eastern chipmunks.

The female builds a nest in the shape of a cup, in a secluded, hidden spot in dense shrub or a tree. She uses thin twigs, bark strips, grasses and lines the nest with other plant fibers. Anywhere from 1-6 days following the completion of the nest building, she lays her white eggs that are often tinted green, blue or brown marked with lavender-gray or brown blotches. The female does most of the incubating, but if need be, the male will help out now and then. The eggs hatch within 12-13 days. The male will care and feed the brood as the female gets busy with another batch of eggs.

Walk around our property on the ranch, and you are sure to see these colorful, chirpy birds.

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