{"id":1146,"date":"2018-08-15T14:05:45","date_gmt":"2018-08-15T14:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/threemileriver.org\/species-mapping\/?p=1146"},"modified":"2026-05-31T23:54:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T23:54:21","slug":"summer-cardinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/threemileriver.org\/species-mapping\/summer-cardinals\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Cardinals"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sunflower seeds, safflower seeds, suet or even broken up peanut, offer them, and they will come.\u00a0 If you are lucky enough to have one, carotenoid-rich bright red berries from dogwood trees are also a favorite.\u00a0 Diet plays a part of why they are red. So, why so red. You would believe that bright red would be a easy visible target\u00a0 for hawks and owls.\u00a0 However,\u00a0 by responding to redness as a sign of a promising mate, females have encouraged the evolution of bright coloring in males. This process is called sexual selection. It turns out that male cardinals are probably bright and loud for the same reason: to advertise what good mates they\u2019d make. Sexual selection is often powerful enough to produce features that are harmful to the individual’s survival. For example, extravagant and colorful tail feathers or fins are likely to attract predators as well as interested members of the opposite sex.\u00a0\u00a0 for more click here<\/a>
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Anyway, just sit back and relax and forget about all the science for a few minutes and watch and listen in your back yard.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to see birds it is necessary to become a part of the silence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Click on and image for nature at it’s colorful best<\/h1>\n

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While noted science writer Ed Yong has not written specifically about a “color-changing female cardinal,” the striking phenomenon of females altering their colors or displaying unusual variations comes down to two well-documented causes in nature:<\/span><\/div>\n