If you’ve got a male Northern Cardinal around, you’ll know it—there is no other bird out there with plumage so bright and so red.  In fact, the Northern Cardinal is often the reason many people start bird watching.  They want to see these beautiful birds at their bird feeders.  Even the female Northern Cardinals, which are a brown color, are still easy to spot and look pretty. They have the gently crested head and a bright orange beak..  One of the reasons many people like to attract Northern Cardinals to their bird feeders is that the cardinals do not migrate.  They stay in the same place for their entire lives, never migrating.  They also don’t molt, so they always have that same bright red coloring no matter what season it is.  The Northern Cardinal also makes a very distinctive, sweet sounding whistle that is a nice, peaceful sound to hear while you’re enjoying a fresh cup of coffee out in your back yard. Read the rest of this entry »