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It is my habit to rise in the half-light before sunrise to write. Though I know there will not be enough light to see, I always glance through the bay windows toward the bird feeder.
Today I detected movement and a shadowy presence on the feeder, a silhouette against the lightening sky in the east. It was a Cardinal. The outline was angular. The bird had an erect crest indicating watchful wariness; movements were jerky and abrupt. Cardinals are the first in the day to visit the feeder; they are also the last in the evening.
What would the winters in the northern Piedmont be without Cardinals? They do not migrate and I am glad of it. The Virginia Redbird belongs to a most recently and highly evolved family of birds. Ornithologists term them Fringillidae; finches, sparrows, buntings and grosbeaks.
The Cardinal is one of the last named group and does indeed have a gross — meaning large — bill. With that all purpose bill the Cardinals gather insects when they are plentiful in summer. The first frost ends the insect feast and the Cardinal changes his diet to fruits and berries, plentiful in fall and winter. There is no need for this bird to ride winds and make the hazardous trip to the tropics. The Cardinal stays in Virginia.
Because of his permanence, the Cardinal can maintain his territory throughout the year. With the urge to reproduce, he has only to sing, starting in late February, and renew the bond with the female. In winter the chases her from the feeder; as nesting season approaches he changes and feeds her cracked sunflower seeds.
Cardinals begin singing in late February, the loud, clear notes punctuate cold winter
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