“Cheer, cheer, cheer”
It’s a Northern Cardinal’s favorite call of spring. This song is a delight to hear and makes us feel good and filled with anticipation. Sharing this cheer with our children and grandchildren all year can make us feel even better.
The cardinal was Mom and Dad’s favorite bird. They taught my brother, sister and me to look for them in the yard at an early age. How we loved to spot those bright red feathers and whisper excitedly, “I see one! I see one!”
Besides learning to spot the cardinals which was not difficult, we discovered they often mated for life. The male often feeds the female during courtship and both play a role in rearing the young. Each brings food to the nest. What a great family story!
We learned that the young stay with the adults as a flock during the winter and then pair off in spring to raise their own families. We learned they stay in Illinois year round, often feeding on the ground, but they can be convinced to come to birdfeeders for sunflower seed.
Cardinal Memories
My Dad could whistle the song of a cardinal. It was so clear and vibrant I can still hear it today.
When my parents came to visit me in their later years, we loved spotting cardinals together from our screened-in porch. And we enjoyed listening to them sing and watching them at the birdfeeders.
After Dad passed away, when we saw a cardinal on our deck rail looking inside, my Mom said, “There’s Dad checking up on us.” It was a poignant moment. We recaptured it often in her remaining years.
But this is not a sad story. My point is that cardinals or another favorite family bird (robin, chickadee, goldfinch, hummingbird) have the natural ability to bond us together as a family. They teach us to respect nature and to see it as a tie to our family’s life.
Learning about a favorite family bird at a young age provides memorable moments throughout our lives. As a child grows older, he can add to his knowledge and understanding of the bird and its habitat. He may, as we did, give his parents cardinal drawings or keepsake items with cardinal images on them.
As a family, the cardinal became a symbol of something more than just another pretty bird. It was an extension of our family into the natural world around us. It provided us with a focal point to watch for together when we were outside or took walks. We looked for it in parks and other states we visited.
We decorate our home at Christmas with cardinal ornaments. We search for the cardinal’s likeness on cards for birthdays and anniversaries. We enjoy giving simple gifts like towels or scarves or pins that had cardinal images imprinted on them. It is a tradition that carries through our lives like the birds we see outside each year.
I encourage you to pick out a bird for your family to learn about through the years. It’s amazing how much cheer, bonding and memories can be developed around that small gift of nature.
Deanna Frautschi is a local Naturalist who is passionate about connecting families with nature. Using her knowledge of wildlife and her photography skills, she helps others enjoy the nature around them. If you have any questions about exploring nature with your children and grandchildren, you may contact Deanna at Decardinal@aol.com. Join the hundreds who follow her on Facebook where she posts photographs and short video clips of birds and other wildlife taken on her travels as well as in her yard. You can also join her "Hummingbirds Anonymous" Facebook group page.
Photos provided by Deanna Frautschi.
