Episode 19 - Our Year Long Cardinal Backyardigans

This episode was written by Robbie Macmillan of Rob's Rescues and looks at our backyard birds, specifically the Cardinals, and wonders why they choose to live where they do.

A transcript of this Haiku Life podcast together with photos will be available on the mygreatergood.com website.

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Transcript

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Hello and welcome to the Haiku Live Podcast, where we take a little exploration into some abbreviated moments. Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry. It is traditionally focused on nature and captures a fleeting moment within the space of three lines and a 5-7-5 syllable count. In a world so overwhelmingly immersive, a haiku is a moment of respite. These haiku are mine, moments of life, thoughts in the ether. Welcome to episode nineteen. The haiku coming up is mine, but the podcast itself was actually written by Robbie Macmillan of Rob's Rescues.com Barbone Limb to Light Arctic Push on Wispy Cloud. Where are all the birds? A cool breeze fills the brisk air outside. It's early morning, the birds are chirping. The ground is wet, the air bracing, and the leaves are scattered everywhere on the ground, all brown and lifeless. I look behind my house at the area filled with trees, bushes and plants of all sorts, and see an abundance of animals, deer, squirrels, birds all fill out the space. I turn my attention to the birds, more specifically the species. Cardinals are here throughout the year. I wonder, do these birds have a set year round lifestyle in place? How can they thrive in the different seasons and why do they choose these spots to stay in? Cardinals are most commonly found in the southeastern parts of the United States, but due to their ability to adapt to other weather conditions, they can also be found in some southern parts of Canada and on the western side of the United States. Cardinals have many ways to survive in the winter. Insulating feathers, storing body fat, food availability, and the fact that they are territorial enable cardinals to thrive in winter and don't have to migrate. Insulating feathers and stored body fat allow them to maintain body temperature in the winter. A cardinal's diet includes insects, fruit and seeds and will eat any food available to them during the winter season. They become very territorial during the winter season and make sure intruders are not welcome until they have enough resources and space. There is a bird feeder behind my house, which provides a stable food source. The cardinals do allow other birds to feed on it too, but sit on branches looking very disapprovingly at them. In winter, especially cardinals do a lot of flocking in groups and communicate and coordinate movements. They look for shelter in harsh winter weather, find thick cover from predators and a close proximity to a food source. In our backyard, it looks to me they seem solitary, but there are a lot of them so clearly coexist well, and the constant chirping probably means a constant line of communication is open. There are a lot of them, more visible in winter due to bare trees and the need to scavenge for food. In summer, they focus on breeding and raising babies in cup shaped nests built deep in dense shrubs or vines, usually five to ten feet off the ground. Baby cardinals are fed a protein based insect diet. There is less reliance on the bird feeder, but our cardinals still visit all the time. Humans play a big role in cardinals and other songbirds surviving through the winter by supplementing feeding with bird feeders, as well as having leaf litter around and creating bird friendly backyard habitat. Human interaction, nest placement, and internal factors like body insulation are the main reasons cardinals are able to thrive in the same spot throughout the year. I carry the food up to the bird feeder and fill it. I see them hiding in the bushes off the wet ground, some staring disapprovingly from the bare tree limbs. These are peaceful spots. Why would they go anywhere else? They have a perfect situation right here. Once again, thank you to Robbie MacMillan of RobsRescues.com for writing this podcast episode. Next week's episode on wild mustangs is actually also Rob's Rescues Inspired. We will see you then. Thank you. Thank you for listening to today's Haiku Life Podcast. You can follow me on Facebook and Instagram. A transcript of this podcast can also be found on the mygreatergood.com website. Matane, see you later!