Waltham MA Backyard Birds

Northern Cardinal

The loud, clear songs of the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) are a familiar part of the suburban soundscape across the eastern United States. The Northern Cardinal is abundant throughout the eastern United States and adjacent Canada, with a range extending south to Belize. This species has also been introduced to the Hawaiian Islands, where it is well established on all the ...more ↓

The loud, clear songs of the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) are a familiar part of the suburban soundscape across the eastern United States. The Northern Cardinal is abundant throughout the eastern United States and adjacent Canada, with a range extending south to Belize. This species has also been introduced to the Hawaiian Islands, where it is well established on all the main islands from Kauai eastward, and has been established locally in coastal southern California and in Bermuda. These striking birds inhabit woodland edges, swamps, streamside thickets, and suburban gardens, as well as the Sonoran Desert and riparian areas of the Southwest. In the East, the Northern Cardinal has expanded its range northward during the past century. Northern Cardinals are permanent residents throughout their range. The Northern Cardinal has been selected as the state bird of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The diet of the Northern Cardinals is highly varied, but consists mainly of seeds, insects, and berries. The young are fed mostly insects.

The male sings to defend his nesting territory and actively attacks intruders. In courtship, both male and female raise their heads high and sway back and forth while singing softly. Early in the breeding season, the male often feeds the female. The female sings mainly in the spring before nesting. The nest, which is an open cup built by the female, is typically hidden in dense vegetation 1 to 3 m above the ground, sometimes higher. The 3 to 4 (sometimes 2 or 5) eggs (whitish to pale bluish or greenish white marked with brown, purple, and gray) are incubated for 12 to 13 days, almost always by the female alone. Both parents feed the young, which leave the nest around 9 to 11 days after hatching. The male may continue to feed the fledglings as the female initiates a second brood. There may be two to three broods per year (rarely four).

(Kaufman 1996; AOU 1998; Dunn and Alderfer 2011) less ↑

Blue Jay

The Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) is a passerine bird, and a member of the family Corvidae native to North America. It belongs to the "blue", Canadian or American jays, which are, among the Corvidae, not closely related to other jays. It is adaptable, aggressive and omnivorous, and has been colonizing new habitats for many decades.

American Crow

The American Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos, is a large passerine bird species of the family Corvidae. It is a common bird found throughout much of North America. In the interior of the continent south of the Arctic, it is simply "the crow" as no other such birds occur there on any regular basis.