The male cardinal with the scarlet crest on his head is a high-profile member of the finch family that decorates our bleak mid-winter backyard snowdrifts. The female is much less decorative with dull colored plumage painted by Mother Nature to be camouflaged when sitting on her nest. Both male and female are classified as perching songbirds with three toes on their legs pointing forward and one pointing backward to be able to stand on a tree limb or firmly grasp a holly branch as in my illustration.
The male has a reason for singing, to let everyone know he is looking for a mate and for other males to stay out of his territory. When he finds a mate, he flutters his wings from side to side next to her, dancing for joy. She often repeats the tune he sings, and they may serenade each other in approval all day long. All cardinals have an ability to sing 10 different songs, and when they harmonize together on just one, it is a musical sign of agreement.
One song is familiar once you have heard it as a high-pitched “chip-chip,” followed by what sounds like “what cheer, what cheer” and then “wheat, wheat, wheat.” Cardinals make their own musical tones with nine pairs of muscles in their syrinx in their throat, which tighten and relax to generate the notes that they want to generate for the song intended.
At the turn of the 20th century, the cardinals expanded their southern range into northern states of suburban and residential areas. So did the mockingbird with even a more flexible combination ability to mimic a wide variety of many birdcalls, including those of the cardinals.
When this extraordinary combined musical orchestration comes into your neighborhood next spring, you will be blessed with a combined experience with that of the cardinal perhaps worthy of poetic verse.
His song combines with the notes he brings,
From tree to tree carried on its wings,
Such beauty rarely heard, he often brings,
His music fills our hearts as he sings.
By George B. Emmons
