Tag Archives: Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis)

A Normal Snow

January 30, 2026

From February 12, 2021, this is the kind of snow that makes my heart sing. A normal snow that covers and clings to everything. Soft and silent as it comes down. A snow that gradually disappears over the course of a few days. This is the kind of snow that brings out TEN Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) sitting together. The snow storm that we are just now beginning to approach some sort of recovery from was not *this* kind of snow.

Cardinals are territorial in breeding season. But in autumn and winter they become more social, hanging out in groups while searching for food and roosting in the same vicinity. In this picture I was fortunate to capture ten Cardinals sitting together, along with two White Throated Sparrows (Zonotrichia albicollis).

Autumn and winter, the friendly season.

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Merry Christmas From A Thicket

December 25, 2025

Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) seek out tangles of vines, dense shrubs, and thickets. These environments provide protection from predators and the weather. This guy settled in here, in a perfect spot to say, “Hello!”, and to wish you a very Merry Christmas!

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Cardinals In Many Locations

December 12, 2025

I thoroughly enjoy seeing Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), both the soft colored females and the brilliant red males no matter what the season, but in the winter they are most spectacular. A pop of lovely color in a black and white landscape.

It’s surprising to realize that these beautiful birds don’t migrate. But they have moved into southeastern Canada and also in the northeastern states of New England due at least in part to rising temperatures, particularly average January temperatures. Now being there as year round residents.

Not only found in southeastern Canada, and from Maine to Minnesota on down to Texas, New Mexico, southern Arizona, and all the way over to southern California, and further south to Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala.

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Red Against New White Snow

January 19, 2025

A count of eight Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) while more snow was coating everything today. Crimson dots looking for hulled sunflower seeds as things became more and more covered with white.

Perhaps two inches of snow had accumulated by this evening. Winter carries on.

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