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ElizabethB
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Location: Lafayette, LA

First Cardinal

I know spring is here! In addition to the allergies from all of the oak and pine pollen I saw my first cardinal this morning. He was busy looking for nesting material. Almost time to fill and hang my hummingbird feeders. Local practice is to put feeders out March 15th.

I think of you folks in the north suffering from horrible blizzards. I hope you are all doing well and not having to deal with power outages in addition to the snow and ice.

Take care all!

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rainbowgardener
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I don't understand... cardinals hop around on the snow all winter. You are clearly in their winter range too:

cardinals winter range:

Image

https://www.bio.purdue.edu/ecology/ross- ... _range.png

Charlie MV
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We have year round red birds too. This is the time of year that I help the birds with home building. When my wife cuts my hair, we leave it near the feeders on a table. It's usually gone overnight. Apparent;y I produce good nesting material. I watch them carry it off.

I really enjoy the cardinal courting ritual. The female perches on a fence and flutters her wings. The male brings her food from the feeder. Happens every year.

Dillbert
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Location: Central PA

ours over-winter here in central PA - always in pairs.

they are territorial so unless food is really scarce we only 'see' one pair - but really bad stretches I've seen 3-4 pairs coming to feed.

we put out safflower - supposed to be one of their favorites.

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ElizabethB
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IDK - cardinals show up in the spring. Very few or none at all over winter. They nest and stay all summer. Robins used to be a common sign of spring. The city has grown too much and they are now a rare sight. My sister has robins in her 5 acre yard and on her 35 acre horse farm.

I love the sound of the cardinal song. BTW I have many wild doves that great me each morning, summer and winter, with their lovely cooing.

Charlie MV
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My favorites to watch are the chickadees. They know how to put on a show. Our cardinals are plentiful but we keep quite a few feeders. The waxwings just came and cleaned the berries off of our giant holly tree. They take about two days to strip it top to bottom.

Somewhere between Charlotte and Aiken we lost goldfinches. They pass through in spring and fall but I miss them in the summer. The goldfinch, chickadee and titmice are the only birds we have that feed at the hang upside down feeders.

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rainbowgardener
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I live 4 miles from downtown in a city about 10 times the population of yours and we have lots of robins. I think it must be either a climate thing or the availability of habitat and big old trees.

Birds we have seen in our backyard:

woodpeckers: red-headed, red-bellied, hairy, downy

large birds: blue jays, cardinals, crows, starlings, grackles, robins, morning doves, occasional red-wing blackbirds, swallows, mockingbirds, once a cedar waxwing

small birds - house wren, carolina wren, tufted titmouse, chickadees, red & white breasted nuthatches, we have some warblers that migrate through, but don't spend time at the feeders, so it's difficult to identify which ones. And of course ruby throat hummingbird, the only species we have.

sparrows & finches - white throat, song sparrow, field sparrow, chipping sparrow, house sparrows, slate colored junco, gold finch and house finch.

We hear the towhee sometimes ("drink your teeee"!!) but difficult to spot it.

This is without being much of a birder or going anywhere, just keeping the feeders full.

When we lived five blocks away but on five wooded acres we had all of the above, plus barred owls, great horned owls, red-tailed hawks, brown thrashers, indigo bunting, pileated woodpeckers, catbirds and cowbirds..

Charlie MV
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Yeah but Rainbowgardener did you ever see a great heron, from underneath, 3 feet away, take two great big poops, bounce it's rear end 3 times in the water and fly off to it's tree? You need a lake for that kind of bird watching.

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rainbowgardener
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I did watch a blue heron bringing food to its babies in the nest, but that was definitely not in my back yard! :)

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tomf
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Location: Oregon

On the Columbia River there are eagles and ospreys, the ospreys like to build their nests on the poles of the navigation markers. The birds dive into the water and come up with fish, we watch them feed their young in the nests; large nests at that.
The birds are coming back to our yard as well, I have seen a number of smaller birds. The birds I did not see often if at all when I lived in the city are; eagles, hawks, owls, quail, turkey vultures, grouse, pheasants, pleated woodpeckers.
There are a number of smaller birds like sapsuckers we see that we never did before.

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prettygurl
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I love cardinals.

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Francis Barnswallow
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I usually get cardinals year round. Gotta love the loud squeak noises they make around 6 am on my days off.

cynthia_h
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The only cardinals I've seen for many years are those religious men in red vestments. The last bird I saw was in Williamsburg, Virginia, back in the '80s. *sigh*

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

Susan W
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Location: Memphis, TN

I'm in-town, and have yr round cardinals, and.....yes, should make a list.....

Cardinals, robins, mockingbirds, doves, finches, sparrows, bluejays, wrens. There are a couple of woodpeckers including the flickers and either downy or hairy. Hummingbirds travel through, a few sticking about in the summer. The blackbirds come through the yard in swarms. Then the few traveling through warblers. I see the brown thrashers this time of year as they must be setting up housekeeping. I have had towees, and may have seen a junco today (not usual here).

I have started to work with g-son (4 next month) on basic bird ID. I have him more now, and as the weather gets prettier and days longer, we'll have more chances to watch the feathered friends.

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Cola82
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Location: McMinnville, Oregon, Zone 8b

I've always loved Oregon, but ever since I was little, I was sad that we didn't have cardinals. Such pretty birds. We do have goldfinches, though, and they're fairly easy to tempt into your yard with the right seeds.

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Ozark Lady
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Location: NW Arkansas, USA zone 7A elevation 1561 feet

In the depth of winter, I find cardinals roosting at night in the barn. We don't seem to have cardinals in hot weather only in winter. In summer we have goldfinches, red birds, blue birds, robins etc.

I did spot a robin the other day, which for us, means that the winter is about gone!

lily51
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Location: Ohio, Zone 5

Our sign of spring bird is the red winged blackbird. Haven't seen one yet, but a friend says she heard one this week.
Robins are not considered migratory here since they don't travel too far.
A friend in southwest Ohio said male bluebirds are showing up at her house.
So even tho it's cold and snowy, spring is right around the corner.



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