Participant Photo: Male Northern Cardinal in Dogwood tree
Male Northern Cardinal in the Dogwood tree right next to the feeder site. One of about 10 cardinals in the yard (and 6 at the feeder site) that day!
Categories: Sparrows & Cardinals
Tags: northern cardinal
Comments
2 comments on “Participant Photo: Male Northern Cardinal in Dogwood tree”
Hi. I’m from the UK and have never seen Cardinals before. They are so beautiful I can hardly believe they fall into the Sparrow category. In the U.K. sparrows are quite dull brown birds which are sadly in decline.
I wonder if you could tell me does the name Cardinals have a religious background? I seem to remember Cardinals wear a particular shade of red.
Hi Sue, Northern Cardinals are not Sparrows, that’s simply the name of the category that this photo was placed in (Sparrows and Cardinals). Cardinals are in the family Cardinalidae, along with tangagers, some grosbeaks, buntings and the Dickcissel. You can learn more about this species here. The Northern Cardinal was indeed named for its resemblance in color to the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church.