Northern Cardinals feeding their offspring

I've been remiss in posting this video I made of the Northern Cardinals that had a nest less than three feet from my kitchen window. I could peek around the blind and watch activities - and make photos and videos - at close range without the birds knowing that I was there. 

While the female did all of the nest construction work, and egg incubation, the male was very supportive and an active participant. He would bring her food when she was on the eggs and constantly sing to her. Female cardinals sing very well, and she would frequently duet with him.

When the chick hatched - there was only one - he would help feed it, as the following video shows. This would certainly be a second nesting, given the lateness of the season, and second broods can be smaller than the preceding brood. But a Brown-headed Cowbird laid an egg in this nest shortly after the first cardinal egg appeared. The cowbird egg somehow disappeared, but that may have dissuaded the female cardinal from laying more.

I had to leave for a trip to northern Michigan about 5-6 days before the young cardinal would be due to leave the nest, and it was gone by the time that I returned. Hopefully the little fellow/girl is doing well. I will keep my eyes open for it.

UPDATE: The little fellow is doing fine. I glanced out the window a bit ago, to see the adult female cardinal with a big beetle in her bill. I knew she'd lead me to the little guy, and she did. He's in the same trumpet-creeper liana where the nest is, well concealed in its foliage. Both adults are delivering food to him, and all looks good!

Anyway, enjoy the video (sorry for the mediocre quality, the uploaded version is fairly low-resolution).

COPYRIGHT ©Jim McCormac. Shot on June 29, 2026, with my iPhone 14. Worthington, Ohio.

 

Update on my nesting Northern Cardinals

An update on the cardinals nesting less than three feet from my kitchen window. Her lone egg hatched this morning, and in this photo (taken from my kitchen window this morning) the female is brooding the lone chick. While a clutch of two eggs is apparently not that unusual, at least for second nestings, one egg is. However, I think a cowbird may be the reason. I saw a female cowbird go to the nest - first time I've ever caught one in the act - but she didn't drop an egg then, as the cardinal had not yet laid any eggs.

However, at some point, probably after the cardinal laid her second egg, it returned. Cowbirds are known to shove a host species' egg from the nest and replace it with their own. That would have left one cardinal egg. However, something happened to the cowbird's egg, and it somehow disappeared. Hopefully the cardinal chick will now flourish.

This has been very interesting to watch at less than arm's length. While she did all the brooding, the male was quite attentive and brought her food. He also sings to her constantly, often from right above the nest. Female cardinals sing very well, and she would duet back and forth with him while incubating her egg. Now that the chick has popped out, he will be an equal partner in feeding it. While adult cardinals are primarily vegan, they feed nestlings an insect-rich diet - babies need the protein to grow. I saw both adults feeding the baby masticated insects this morning, even though it is a brand-new hatchling.

I live on a typical suburban lot, just over one-third of an acre. But my yard is awash in native flora - this nest is in a trumpet-creeper liana - and there are lots of shrubs and trees. It is an oasis in a sea of lawns mowed in diamond patterns that are overly treated by Chem-lawn and filled with nonnative species in overly manicured gardens. Thus far this year, in addition to the cardinals, I have hosted nesting Downy Woodpeckers, Blue Jays, Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmouse (probably), House Wrens, Carolina Wrens, Gray Catbirds, Eastern Bluebirds, American Robins (probably), Song Sparrows, Eastern Towhees (probably), and possibly other species. And scores of other species, including migrants and other species nesting elsewhere locally, use my yard frequently.

Northern Cardinal nest in backyard

 

This Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) has shown great taste in selecting a particularly showy spot: a thick liana of Trumper-creeper (Campsis radicans) vines only about two feet from my kitchen window. I should say "cardinals" as even though the female does all of the work regarding nest construction, the male assists with site selection, and feeds her while she is engaged in construction.

Here she is, busily weaving together her nest. This shot was made yesterday morning (June 11, 2026), and it's been about a week since I first noticed the commencement of construction. The nest appears to be nearly complete. While the nest is in a difficult area to avoid regular disturbances, I will do everything within my power to see that they have success.

While cardinal nests don't look like much at a glance, they are more complex than it appears. There are four distinct layers: a very rough twiggy outer layer, a loose leafy zone, grapevine strips, and a soft inner bowl of fine grasses. Interestingly, the rough-looking cup is not directly anchored to the branchy substrate, it is more or less just wedged into place.

As cardinals can nest quite early in spring, I imagine this is a second nesting.

A male Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) performs his "Dracula" courtship display to a seemingly disinterested female. Cowbirds must be given credit for their interesting courtships, and this activity, if successful, leads to the production of cowbird eggs.

An ever-vigilant female cowbird, scanning her surroundings for potential host nests. As I am sure you know, cowbirds are parasitic in that the female dumps an egg(s) in host nests of unrelated species. Many species can serve as hosts, and the Northern Cardinal is a common victim/host.

Today, I was out back with a contractor doing some work for me, and we were about 30 feet from the nest. Suddenly a female cowbird flew in and landed on the ground, perhaps 10 feet from the nest. She then walked over to the base of the Trumpet-creeper vine and flew up to the nest. She didn't stay long, and after her departure I took a quick look within and she had not laid an egg. However, the cardinal has not yet laid any eggs, and as I understand it cowbirds mostly dump their egg (sometimes multiples) in nests that already have host eggs. My hunch is that she'll be back after some cardinal eggs appear.

This may be a case in which I will feel the need to intervene. While Brown-headed Cowbirds are not "invasive" or "nonnative" they have expanded their range tremendously. Why? Us. People. Cowbirds originally were tightly tied to bison herds, which they stayed with and depended upon for food. The cowbirds feed on insects and other fare disturbed by the bison's feet. One still sees this behavior, although cows are now the herding animals that they follow. When we opened up the eastern deciduous forest region, cowbirds aggressively pioneered new and favorable habitats and learned to exploit cattle.

As bison herds are quite nomadic and often not in one place for extended periods, the cowbirds evolved their nest parasitism habits. This freed the adult birds from the lengthy process of parental care. Just let someone else do the dirty work for you. Unfortunately, cowbirds are hard on their hosts. The young cowbirds often get a jumpstart on host species and outcompete the rightful young. While perhaps playing god a bit, I want "my" cardinals to have the greatest possible chance of successful reproduction. 

A pair of dashing cardinals, and Albert the white-headed jay, in snow

Yesterday dawned cold and snowy. It was one of very few snowfalls in central Ohio this winter, and perhaps the best to date. I was stuck at home, working on a book project, but what is life without birds and photography? So, as soon as it was light enough, I took some snaps while the snow still clung to the branches. Albert, the gorgeous white-headed blue jay, was my main quarry but lots of other subjects presented themselves, including these cardinals.

A male northern cardinal glows from a snowy branch. Cardinals are one of the showiest North American birds, and look dazzling anywhere, anytime. But there's nothing that makes the males pop like a fresh coat of snow.

Because this is such a common songbird, it's possible to become jaded to cardinals. Never let that happen. It hardly seems possible that such a gorgeous, exotic-looking animal could be in our midst.

Here's the crimson fellow's mate. She looks fabulous too. Just in a more understated way. The lengthening days have stimulated cardinals to increase their singing. It's a beautiful whistled song often described as "cheery". And that it is. If you have the time to look, it's always worth glancing around to locate the singer. I constantly do this, with all singing birds, as it's a great way to keep honing your ability to rapidly find birds. But there's another possible reward for finding singing cardinals. It might be the female that is singing! They don't sing as often as males, but when they do it's every bit as melodic and artful as the male.

And here he is, Albert, "my" amazing blue jay! He's looking at me as if to say, "what have you done!", in reference to the snow. As he was born last year, this is his (I don't really know if it's a him or her, but with a name like Albert, I'll go with him :-)) first winter. And first exposures to snow.

Albert remains a fixture, bombarding the feeders for unshelled peanuts and other seed every day, especially in the morning. The morning that I made this image, I replenished the feeders shortly after daybreak, and Albert was out there berating me for moving too slowly. He's quite bold, as jays are, and freely speaks his mind. I have been pleased to see that he does not allow the "normie" jays to push him about.

This special white-headed jay has been here for over a month now, and it'll be interesting to see how long he remains.

Northern cardinal, eating holly berries

A bright male northern cardinal, its plumage rivaling that of the colorful winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata) drupes that it sits among. As stated in the previous post, the holly garden at Dawes Arboretum can be a fantastic place to drum up showy bird images.

Female Northern Cardinal, in flight

A female Northern Cardinal nears a perch, and flares its wings. This species, which is Ohio's state bird, is very common in central Ohio where I live. They're pretty easy to photograph, at least when at rest, but are so striking I could probably shoot them all day.

One way to try and make photographs of very common species stand out is to capture them in unusual postures, situations, or in flight. Making a sharp image of a rapidly moving songbird on the wing (click the photo to enlarge) is not easy. In this situation, there was a feeder a few feet to the left, and that's where this bird is headed. As it was about 12 F when I made this image, birds were hungry and the feeders were quite active, and I saw an opportunity. By pre-focusing my camera at a point a few feet off the feeder's right side, I could wait, (frozen) finger on the trigger, for targets to enter the bulls-eye zone.

I got plenty of opportunities with several species, but the vast majority of images will be throw-aways. Only a few times did I nail a photo when the bird was: 1) smack in the focus area; 2) and displaying good posture ( head not turned away, wings in a pleasing position, etc.). Because of the cold and the need to attend to something else, I only spent about a half-hour at this, but want to go back and try some more.

This shot was made with the new Canon 5D IV, and I'm finding this to be a stellar camera, especially for bird photography. Its focus acquisition system is amazing, and it handles high ISO levels well. For this shot I used the Canon 800mm f/5.6 lens, at f/5.6, 1/2000, ISO 1600, exposure compensation +1.7, no flash.