Spring must be on the way... Lots more birds around!

This one wanted to pose for me- She did a GREAT job-



Canon Rebel XT w/ 100-400 IS lens.

-Andrew

Just look at all the glory in that little bird!

She is beautiful! We have a pair in our yard and the female is very vocal ans pushy. We just had 3 new males appear though. They are flying in fast maneuvers through the yard. They look juvenile still. Maybe a nest is near? Today our big male was on the tree with a red winged black bird. I just love wild birds.

Yes, they are and very smart, too. I had one for two years, her name was Virginia because Northern Cardinals are also called Virginia Cardinals. She came with some pairs of breeding and show lovebirds and a Red Crested Brazilian Cardinal. The lady who had them knew it was illegal to keep a wild bird caged but she said the bird had been sold to her in a bird fair (I do so hate bird fairs!) and that she had been bred in captivity. I doubt she was captive-bred because she had no leg band but she was definitely captive-raised because the bird did not know how to forage or what wild food was. She also could not metabolize protein properly (due to the awful diet she had been fed all her life of meal worms every day even during the winter when cardinals switch over to a 90% vegetarian diet) and had the most incredibly extreme case of keratonosis on her legs. She had something that looked like brown plastic wings growing to the sides of both her legs. I took her to the vet and they were removed but her liver was damaged and she needed to be kept on a low protein diet. A few months ago, I finally found a rehabber that specialized in passerines and had an outdoor wintering habitat for them. She agreed to take her in and keep her forever in case her liver did not get better and/or she never did learn to forage. She was quite aggressive and territorial to other birds but she was not afraid of people and that also is another thing that might prevent her release. It might be wishful thinking on my part but I do so hope she might get better and learn to live in the wild so she could be released...