Cardinal, a bird of the bunting family of the passerine order.

Body length about 20 cm. The plumage of the male Cardinal is bright red, at the base of the beak is black; the female has a brownish plumage.

The cardinal is common in the United States, Mexico and North Central America.

It lives in forests, gardens and parks. It feeds on seeds and insects.

Clutch of Cardinal 3-4 eggs. The eggs of the Cardinals incubate for 12-13 days, only the female of the Cardinal incubates.

Red cardinal

The red cardinal is a songbird of the cardinal family. Its natural habitat is the eastern states of the United States and the southeastern coasts of Mexico and Canada. It is found in Hawaii and Bermuda and California. For several centuries it has been imported into Western Europe as an exotic poultry.

The body length of an adult is about 20-23 cm, weight 45 g. The male has a memorable bright crimson color, with a dark "mask" around the eyes and beak. Females have a gray-brown plumage with red-pink elements on the wings, crest and breasts, and a lighter mask than males. Young birds are similar in color to adult females. Legs are pink-brown. Eyes with gray-brown pupils.

The singing of the male fills the house with loud and melodic sounds, slightly reminiscent of nightingale trills. Females also sing, but quieter and not so beautiful. Since in captivity cardinals easily get fat, they need to be kept in large cages or aviaries at least one meter long, taking into account the fact that you can let the bird fly out into the open space every day.

As a rule, red cardinals choose a pair for life. These birds are very independent and rarely use artificial houses, therefore, during the mating season, the female builds a nest, and the male helps her. It should also be borne in mind that during nesting, birds are very aggressive and can fight with their relatives in adjacent cages, so the breeding pair should be kept isolated from others.

Good food for the red cardinal is millet, oats, rapeseed, canary seeds, but do not forget about important nutrients for the health of birds, like live insects, crickets and locusts are suitable. Argentine or Madagascar cockroaches. Berries, fruits, buds of trees and bushes, young blossoming flowers from fruit trees and all kinds of greens are a mandatory minimum in the diet of these birds.

The red cardinal is very handsome and not whimsical. Its content is not complicated and easy to do; in return, the owner receives an exotic bird with excellent vocal abilities.

Among birds, the cardinal is the recognized bird, with the most excellent memory. These birds live in large rocky areas of North America, in the vicinity of the mountains and in the Grand Canyons. They feed on pine seeds. However, these seeds only mature for a few weeks in September. Ultimately, the bird must stock up on food for the coming weeks. First of all, he chooses a certain place where he will hide the seeds. Sometimes the selected site is areas that are 20 km away from pine trees. In order to hide the seeds collected from the pines, the cardinal bird buries them in the ground. From the very first attempt, burying the seed in the soil, sometimes he leaves a pebble in the same place as a mark.

In September, the cardinal is continuously stocking up on seeds for three weeks. An amazing fact is that during the flight, this bird remembers all the places, trees, rocky areas, mountain slopes, which it managed to visit. It is assumed that she recreates a picture of everything she sees and imprints it on a map in her brain. With his fruitful work, in a short period of time, the cardinal bird buries about 100 thousand seeds on the territory of the Grand Canyon hundreds of kilometers long. She clearly remembers the buried areas with seeds, since in the following months, in order to feed, she will need to accurately remember the map of the area where the seeds are distributed. Otherwise, if she cannot remember the location of all buried seeds, then she is unlikely to survive. But there is another problem as well. After the snow falls, the visibility of the terrain changes completely, and it becomes much more difficult to remember the marked areas separately. That is, when snow falls, the marked signs completely disappear. However, even this situation does not mislead the cardinal bird, and it finds 90% of 100 thousand seeds sown. Another striking fact in this situation is that the seeds not found, in particular, provide an increase in the number of trees.

No other bird itself can figure out when its supplies are exhausted, and for the sake of survival it will need to bury them, and then remember the places of hidden supplies. The bird is not taught what measures to take in order to stock up for the winter, and where exactly to bury the seeds. And there is no need for her to memorize separately the location of all 100 thousand seeds, and all this is practically impossible. However, this bird perfectly copes with all these worries, tk. she acts just like all other creatures, at the suggestion of Allah. The cardinal bird easily identifies the locations of the seeds hidden for it during the year and at the same time needs only the protection and help of Allah, who created it.

Allah holds all things under his control and gives all his creatures their daily bread. And the specific features characteristic of this little creature serve as a clear and excellent example, testifying to the greatness of Allah.

Sources: www.kartinki24.ru, www.9ptiz.ru, zverushca.ru, harunyahya.ru, www.mirtattoo.ru

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Everyone knows that the word cardinal means Catholic dignity, but it turns out that there are also interesting birds hiding under this name. Cardinals are a family of birds of the Passeriformes order, numbering 42 species, of which the red (Virginian) cardinal is the most famous. Among passerine birds, finches and buntings are closest to cardinals.

Male red, or virgin cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis).

Cardinals are medium-sized birds (among passerines), up to 20 cm long, weighing 40-45 g. Their beak is short and strong, which indicates a relationship with finches. The wings are of medium length, the tarsi are thin, with tenacious claws, the tail is elongated. The plumage of cardinals has bright colors - red, blue, orange.

Painted Bunting Cardinal (Passerina ciris).

It was the scarlet color of the most famous species - the Virginian cardinal - that gave the name to the entire family. Cardinals are characterized by sexual dimorphism, that is, the difference in the appearance of males and females. Bright coloration is the prerogative of males, while females are painted in patronizing greenish and brown tones. Many species have a small crest on their heads, which enhances the resemblance of cardinals to waxwings, although these birds are unrelated to them.

The female of the red cardinal.

All types of cardinals live exclusively in the New World, where they are found in almost all latitudes - from Canada and the Rocky Mountains in the north to the south of South America. They live in forests, shrubs, swamps, do not avoid the proximity of human habitation and can be found in gardens.

Red cardinal in the spring garden.

Cardinals are sedentary birds with a pronounced territoriality; they not only occupy permanent sites, but also actively protect them from the invasion of neighbors. Birds live in pairs and remain faithful to their partner all their lives. Cardinals are songbirds. In the forest, they often perform their own simple song. Songs of the cardinals perform a threefold function: they serve to designate an occupied territory, are used to communicate between birds of the same pair, and signal danger. In all cases, different sets of sounds are used. It is characteristic that both males and females sing among cardinals; joint songs are not uncommon during the mating season.

The male green spiza (Chlorophanes spiza) is an atypical species of cardinals.

Cardinals feed on all kinds of seeds, berries, cereal grains. At the same time, insects - grasshoppers, cicadas, beetles, and snails - make up a significant proportion of their diet. They feed their chicks mainly with insects, since they need a lot of protein to grow. Cardinals willingly approach human habitation (especially in winter) in search of food, they visit farms and fields during harvesting, willingly take food from hanging feeders.

The female red cardinal eats sunflower seeds - the favorite food of these birds.

During the mating season, the male sings especially intensely, sometimes he feeds the female before mating. Then the female builds a cup-shaped nest from small twigs and blades of grass and lays 3-4 speckled eggs.

Cardinal's nest with masonry.

The female builds a nest and incubates the clutch alone, but the male sometimes brings her food and briefly replaces it at the nest. The incubation period lasts 12-13 days. After hatching of the chicks, the male actively connects to the feeding of the offspring. Chicks fledge in 10-11 days and for some time are near the nest, begging for food from their parents. Cardinals often make 3-4 clutches per season, and the male can single-handedly feed the brood while the female incubates the next clutch.

The cardinal feeds the chicks.

Interestingly, the indigo bunting cardinal sometimes brings up corpse chicks with his chicks, which toss their eggs into their nests (like cuckoos).

Indigo Bunting Cardinal (Passerina cyanea).

In nature, cardinals are hunted by hawks, shrikes, owls, their nests can be ravaged by snakes, squirrels, chipmunks. A significant proportion of chicks die in the first year of life, but adult birds can live up to 12 years in the wild and up to 25 in captivity. Cardinals belong to the so-called background bird species, that is, common everywhere. In connection with the expansion of agricultural territories, the forage resources of the cardinals are increasing and these birds are not threatened with extinction. Due to their bright colors and beautiful singing, cardinals are often kept as indoor songbirds. In captivity, they get along well and deserve the love of people. The most recognizable and popular species, the red cardinal, is so popular that it has become a symbol of several states in the United States. Moreover, despite the widespread distribution of these birds, its capture in nature is prohibited in the United States, and poachers are fined $ 15,000 or imprisoned for 6 months!

63w, 73w "sizes =" (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px "/> Christmas and New Years are getting closer!

Today is CARDINAL, the scarlet bird of Christmas. It is so bright and recognizable that its colorful appearance has long been used as one of the unofficial symbols of Christmas. He himself is like a Christmas tree toy, smart and fluffy among the winter branches in the snow.

So, what kind of bird is this that we have in Russia, and throughout Eurasia, you just can't see it?

Red cardinal , or cardinal of virgin (lat. Cardinalis cardinalis) is a species of birds from the cardinal family ( Cardinalidae).

Elected as an official symbol in seven states of the United States. It is a beautiful red tufted bird.

The red cardinal is a medium-sized bird. Its appearance is amazing. Length - 20-23 cm. The male is slightly larger than the female. The color of the male is bright crimson, with a black "mask" on the face. The color of the female is dominated by grayish-brown tones, with reddish feathers on the wings, chest and crest, with a less pronounced "mask" than that of the male. The beak is strong, conical in shape. Juveniles are similar in color to an adult female. Legs are dark pink-brown. Pupils are brown.

It lives primarily in the eastern states of the United States, as well as in southeastern Canada and Mexico. It spreads to the south up to northern Guatemala. In 1700, it was brought to Bermuda, where it successfully took root, it was also acclimatized in the Hawaiian Islands and southern California. Inhabits various types of forests, gardens, parks, bushes. Gravitates towards man-made landscapes, it is found even in parks of large cities, for example, in Washington.

The song of the male is a set of very beautiful sonorous trills, vaguely reminiscent of the song of a nightingale, for which it is often called the Virginian nightingale. Females also sing, but their song is quieter and not so varied. When frightened, the birds emit a sharp chirping cry, they talk among themselves in a quiet chirp.

The pairs of the Virginian cardinal are formed for life and remain together even outside the breeding season.

The red cardinal belongs to territorial birds, the male does not allow other cardinals to enter the territory he occupies and warns them with loud singing that the place is occupied. The nest is built by the female. It is bowl-shaped, located on a bush or low tree. A full clutch contains 3 4 eggs. Incubation lasts 12-13 days. Only the female incubates, and the male feeds her and sometimes replaces her. Chicks fly out of the nest very quickly, and the male feeds them, and the female proceeds to the next clutch. There are 2 3 broods per year.

The life span of the red cardinal in nature is 10-15 years, in captivity up to 28 years.

Cardinal virgin or red (Latin Cardinalis cardinalis) belongs to the Cardinal family (Cardinalidae). Its striking appearance and pleasant voice, reminiscent of the trills of a nightingale, have made it very popular among songbird lovers. The birds love to sing in duets, with the female's singing changing depending on the season and social environment.

In 1918, most of the United States had very strict conservation laws for this species. Anyone who tried to catch, kill, sell, or cage the red cardinal faced a heavy fine. If it was impossible to pay it off, the villain generally ended up in prison, where he was subjected to brutal abuse by bird lovers.

At that time in the United States, the singing of songbirds was extremely highly valued, and rough cowboys with a gentle soul famously dealt with fellow citizens who were deprived of musical hearing and aesthetic taste. The severe measures taken contributed to the rapid reproduction of the Virginian cardinal. Now its population is not threatened, and its number has exceeded 100 million individuals.

Behavior

The red cardinal is common in the southern United States, Guatemala, Mexico and Belize. It was introduced to Bermuda and Hawaii, where it took root very quickly. In the US state of Arizona, it is often adjacent to (Cardinalis sinuatus).

The bird happily settles in gardens, parks, groves and nearby cultivated lands located near natural reservoirs. Representatives of this species categorically avoid open spaces and woodlands. They change their place of residence only in exceptional cases.

In winter, birds gather in small flocks to jointly search for food and settle down for the night.

Usually from 20 to 50 individuals are hunted in one flock. Many birds confidently take advantage of human kindness, feeding exclusively from the feeders supplied for them.

With the end of winter, the nesting season of red cardinals begins, so the flocks break up and married couples are formed. Each couple occupies their home site and chants their competitors away from its borders with sonorous singing.

According to connoisseurs, their arias are reminiscent of a flute melody and rhythmic dashing whistling. These birds have sexual dimorphism. Males are much larger than females and are more brightly colored.

The birds get their food mainly on the branches of bushes, feeding on berries and fruits. They also love to collect seeds that have fallen to the ground. In summer, about a third of the food they eat consists of various insects and their larvae. In the spring, plant buds and young shoots are eaten.

The birds communicate with each other using a rich set of sounds and various poses. They give an alarm signal with flaps of their tail and raised tufts. Having noticed a predator, the Virginian cardinal immediately informs his relatives about it, and then courageously flies directly at him with a loud chirp, trying to scare and drive away.

Unfortunately, this rarely succeeds, and the hero himself often becomes the prey of the aggressor.

Urban cats and dogs pose a particular threat to this species. The latter simply love to destroy the nests located at a low height. In natural conditions, their enemies are snakes, birds of prey and some mammals. About a third of chicks become their prey in the first months of their life.

Reproduction

Red Virginian cardinals are monogamous birds. Lonely young males take the time and energy to demonstrate their musical abilities. Only the most vociferous handsome men can count on female attention.

Married couples often persist for several years. The mating season lasts from spring to autumn. During this time, the spouses usually manage to have offspring twice. The first clutch is laid in March, and the second in the first half of June. The female is engaged in the construction of the nest.

It is located in dense thickets at a height of 40 cm to 400 cm above the soil surface and is a cone tapering downward, twisted of dry grass, twigs and moss. In a clutch, there are from 2 to 5 greenish eggs with white and brown spots.

Incubation begins after the last egg has been laid and lasts 12-14 days. All this time the female is fed by the male. He also protects the masonry with special zeal from any encroachments of enemies. The first 2 days after the birth of the chicks, the female stays with them, and then joins her husband for joint foraging.

Both parents tirelessly clean the nest, removing the waste products of their offspring from it.

They bring various insects and larvae to children. Chicks develop very quickly, already on the 10th day they are completely covered with feathers and can even fly a little. Parental feeding continues for another 2-4 weeks.

During this period, the chicks stand on the wing and learn to forage for themselves. Feeling the strength for an independent life, they leave the parental nest.

Occasionally one comes across especially infantile juveniles, which are already chased away by the parents themselves, anxious about the need for the next clutch. Juveniles form their juvenile flocks, which disintegrate the following spring when they reach puberty.

Description

The body length of adults is about 22 cm with a weight of 41-49 g. The body is small, rounded, covered with red feathers. On the back and wings, the color is darker and resembles a brown bloom.

The young female has a bluish-gray plumage with a reddish tint, and a pink beak. With age, her feathers gradually darken, but their brightness is never as intense as that of males.

Elongated tail feathers are painted in a rich bright red. There is a crest on the head. Dark eyes are located on the sides of the head near a wide red beak.

On thin paws, 4 toes. Around the beak and on top of the throat is a mask of blackish feathers. Ornithologists distinguish 18 subspecies by the color and shape of the mask.

Life expectancy is about 10 years. The maximum recorded age of a Virginian cardinal was 15 years and 9 months.

Winter holidays are approaching and therefore in this article I want to talk about the most beautiful and bright bird that has become one of the symbols of Christmas in Canada, Mexico and America - the red cardinal.

Red or Virginian cardinal (Latin Cardinalis cardinalis) belongs to the cardinal family and predominantly lives in the eastern states of the United States, southeastern Canada and Mexico.

To the south, it spreads to Guatemala and has also successfully taken root in Bermuda and Hawaii and in southern California.

The red cardinal is an official symbol in seven states in the United States: Virginia, West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and North Carolina.

The red cardinal is a medium-sized bird (length 20-23 cm, wingspan 25-31 cm).

Males are slightly larger than females and have a very elegant bright crimson color with a black mask and a beautiful tuft on their head. The color of the female is dominated by gray-brown tones and only on the wings, breast and crest are reddish feathers, and the black mask is less bright than that of the male. Young birds in protective color are similar to their mother.

Red cardinals are found in natural forests of various types, and also settle next to humans - gardens, parks, shrub plantations.

This bird became famous not only for its unique catchy appearance, but also for its very melodic singing, similar in many trills to a nightingale. The cardinal is called the Virginian nightingale.

The singing of the male consists of complex and varied trills, while the song of the female is quieter and less varied. Sometimes the male and female sing together, forming a very melodic duet.

The birds talk among themselves with a quiet chirp, and when frightened, they emit a sharp chirping cry.

Red cardinals feed mainly on a variety of seeds and plant fruits, berries, elm bark and leaves. Among insects, these birds use beetles, cicadas and grasshoppers. Sometimes they even eat snails.

Cardinals love to eat on man-made artificial feeders.

These birds live in twos - a male and a female and a pair is formed for life.

Cardinals belong to territorial birds and the male fiercely defends the territory from competitors and warns uninvited guests with loud trills that the place is occupied.

Females build bowl-shaped nests in bushes or low trees. The clutch usually contains 3-4 greenish eggs with grayish or brownish specks. Only the female incubates eggs for 12 - 13 days, and the male brings her food and sometimes replaces it for a short time. The cardinals feed their chicks with insects.

Chicks leave the nest very quickly and their father feeds them. The female proceeds to the next clutch, and a couple has 2 - 3 broods per year.

The life span of the red cardinal in nature is 10 - 15 years, in captivity - up to 28 years. The cardinals' main natural enemies are large birds of prey such as hawks, owls, and shrikes. And squirrels, chipmunks and even snakes often destroy eggs and small helpless chicks.

The North American Indians have put together several beautiful legends about how the cardinal's bird had such a luxurious and bright plumage.

1. A grateful wolf gives the bird savior a chic outfit

Once a cunning raccoon hid from a hungry wolf in a dense bush by the river. Out of breath from the pursuit, the wolf decided to get drunk and saw the reflection of a raccoon in the water mirror. The wolf rushed to the "prey" and almost drowned - he barely scrambled to the shore and fell asleep exhausted. And the cunning raccoon, in revenge, covered his eyes with clay. Gray howled with despair, but no one in the forest wanted to help him. The animals remembered his cruelty and deceit. And only a small inconspicuous bird took pity on the wolf and opened his eyes. And he was so delighted with the sunlight that he led the bird to the magical red rocks and painted its feathers with crimson sand. Since then, the cardinal proudly flaunts his festive attire.

2. The second Indian legend says that the red cardinal is the daughter of the Sun

Once the Sun got angry with people that they always squint and close their eyes, looking at its flaming disk. It sent such a scorching heat to the earthlings that many people died from its searing anger. Then the cunning and cunning sorcerer turned two people into snakes and sent them to kill the Sun. However, the beloved Daughter of the Sun suffered from the snake venom. And then the light of grief and resentment left completely from the horizon. And people could not rejoice at the coolness that had come, since they remained in the darkness. And then the sorcerer ordered to steal the beloved Daughter of the Sun from the world of the dead in order to return the sunlight to the earthlings again. The sorcerer gave the people a magic box and ordered them to carry it gently and not open the lid. People kidnapped the Daughter of the Sun from the kingdom of the dead and carried her to the world of the living. On the way, the girl began to choke in the cramped box and begged her porters to give her a breath of fresh air. The porters took pity, but as soon as they opened the lid of the box, a small scarlet bird fluttered around, and the box turned out to be empty. And now the Daughter of the Sun flies next to people in the form of a crimson sweet-voiced cardinal.

And people forever fell in love with a bright crimson bird and made it not only a symbol of the seven states, but also one of the main symbols of Catholic Christmas.

And the images of the red cardinal began to decorate in Canada, America and Mexico, Christmas and New Year cards and pictures, festive dishes and city panels, giving people in the white snowy months bright joy, sunny warmth and a festive mood.

We will also admire the sunny bird, at least in photographs and postcards, since we do not have it in Russia. And in the living winter forests, we will rejoice at our beloved bullfinches.