For The Love of Cardinals
For The Love of Cardinals
Many of our customers love the birds, and provide food and water to attract them to their yards and gardens. In this region we are blessed to have a wide range of resident birds as well as flocks that come through during migration. All birders and homeowners have their favorites, but many especially love the bright red cardinals. (I personally have always thought that a cardinal sighting is a good omen, and since there are many cardinals around this means that I’m always seeing premonitions of something positive.) Whether you believe in omens or not, as the season gets colder and the landscape becomes more stark the brightly colored cardinals are especially welcome.
So today’s blog post celebrates the Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis. (Wouldn’t it be great if all scientific plant names were as easy to remember as the one given to this brilliant red bird?)
If you love the cardinal, and want to attract them to your yard and gardens, put up a feeder and offer them the seed they prefer: sunflower. Cardinals also relish safflower seeds, but if you want to keep it simple, offer a mix of shelled and unshelled sunflower seed. You’ll attract all the other birds as well, and because 80% of the seeds are shelled you’ll have less mess under your feeders.
The airspace around our bird feeder is busier than O’Hare in the winter. As you can see from this photo, we have many cardinals in addition to other birds. Can you spot the 3 females and 4 males in the photo?
In time for holiday gifts, we always get in many cardinal-themed items. This is a tea cup that has its own strainer and lid so you can make a cup of loose tea to your taste and keep it hot while it’s brewing.
This “snow globe” features a bright red bird…perfect for someone who loves cardinals or collects globes.
New this season are these graceful vase-shaped lights. Come into the store to see how it looks when it’s plugged in.
We sell the premium blend of 80% shelled and 20% unshelled sunflower seed in large bags for those who like to make fewer trips for their birdseed.
But for customers who don’t want to lug such heavy bags in and out, we have bulk seed available and you can fill a light-weight, Country Garden jug with the seed of your choice.
If you’re not able to feed the birds, you can still celebrate the Cardinal. Come into the store for ornaments, and next spring be sure to ask about plants that feed this lovely bird naturally.
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