Red Gallery – Northern Cardinal | H.J. Ruiz

Males sometimes bring nest material to the female, who does most of the building. She crushes twigs with her beak until they are pliable, then turns in the nest to bend the twigs around her body and push them into a cup shape with her feet. The cup has four layers: coarse twigs (and sometimes bits of trash) covered in a leafy mat, then lined with grapevine bark and finally grasses, stems, rootlets, and pine needles. The nest typically takes three to nine days to build.

13 thoughts on “Red Gallery – Northern Cardinal”

bayphotosbydonna on September 15, 2018 at 8:36 am said:

Awwww…..my Saturday morning is complete with your Reds, HJ! Your first capture is gorgeous!

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- H.J. for avian101 on September 15, 2018 at 3:38 pm said:
  
  Thank you very much Donna! 🙂
  
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cindy knoke on September 15, 2018 at 8:42 am said:

Wow!

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- H.J. for avian101 on September 15, 2018 at 3:39 pm said:
  
  Thank you Cindy! 🙂
  
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Jet Eliot on September 15, 2018 at 10:11 am said:

Fantastic display of the glorious northern cardinal, thank you HJ. Saturday Reds, always a joy; and interesting information about the building of their nest. Great post, my friend–

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- H.J. for avian101 on September 15, 2018 at 4:50 pm said:
  
  You know how much I love my birds Jet, I share my photos of them proudly! Thank you so much my friend! 🙂
  
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svtakeiteasy on September 15, 2018 at 4:31 pm said:

Beautiful images as always HJ! Interesting information about their nest building. Have you always put an intro paragraph and I have not been seeing it, jumping straight to the photos or is this new?

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- H.J. for avian101 on September 15, 2018 at 5:18 pm said:
  
  I started the intro paragraph when I changed to my new theme, to compliment the photos. Thanks Chris! 🙂
  
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Val on September 15, 2018 at 4:40 pm said:

Beautiful!
What sort of temperaments do Red Cardinals have? Are they shy? Bold?

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- H.J. for avian101 on September 15, 2018 at 5:21 pm said:
  
  They’re in the middle, not too shy, not too bold. They are very cautious. They may be used to see me though. Thanks Val. 🙂
  
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  - Val on September 15, 2018 at 5:59 pm said:
    
    I’m sure they are used to you. Birds have very good eyesight and I think they also have an extra sense of some sort that we, humans, don’t have – some sort of perception of who is trustworthy and who isn’t. 🙂
tootlepedal on September 15, 2018 at 5:57 pm said:

Stunning shots, HJ

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- H.J. for avian101 on September 15, 2018 at 6:40 pm said:
  
  Thank you Tom! 🙂
  
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