View Post

A flash of scarlet; the northern cardinal

In Birds, News by couchiching

Seven American States have claimed the Northern Cardinal as, State Bird! Many sports teams have been named after it, producing some creative logos; images of cardinals appear on just about anything that can be sold! The bird is a marketer’s dream!

Named after the scarlet vestments worn by Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church, we live in the Northern Cardinal’s northerly range. Few of these beauties are found much north of here. I remember even in the Toronto area when they were very scarce, as they are primarily a Southern bird. Today, Cardinals are fairly common birds in Southern and South Central Ontario.