I have a special love for Cardinals as many in North America do. The North American Cardinal is a songbird and unique to a lot of the U.S., some parts of Canada and Mexico. It normally does not migrate in winter and stands out sharply against our snowy winters. The Cardinal is the state bird in North Carolina, West Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Virginia.
While the bright red male is most popular I love the females too. They seem to have a graceful spirit. I've watched females wait their turn at the feeder while the male eat first. She is tender with her young. Males and females work together to build nests and raise the babies.
I've heard it said that pairs stay together for life, though I've also read that while pairs stay together through the winter 20% of them find new partners in spring.
As a child I had the pleasure of watching a family of Cardinals nesting in our climbing rose bush outside my bedroom window in Kansas.
I've painted both the male and female in a close up style posing them so they face each other. This painting of the female would go well with the male painting also available.
1 comment:
Just lovely. Beautiful post.
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