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February 10, 2000 - The cardinal: one fine finch- SA - -• The- SuffolkTimes - F6brbary'1 x,,2000 The cardinal: one fine finch This is one of those down in the teens days. As we watch the seed eaters on our patio outside the big window we see them pick, run and then squat down on their legs and feet. I guess it is something like we do when we put our hands in our pockets to keep the warm. I often wonder how these tiny, thin Focus legs and toes escape freezing. ON After a bit of NATURE research I found the reason is that by Paul the legs and toes Stoutenburgh "have no fleshy muscle and only tough tendons with limited nerves and blood supply that make them far less susceptible to freezing than the fleshy parts of the body." I guess that's as good an explanation as you can get. Nevertheless, I still don't see why those delicate little feet and.legs don't freeze solid. Further along, my research does acknowledge that some birds do freeze and die when the tem- perature gets real cold for long peri- ods of time. Available food is the key to sur- vival. It stores up the body heat and in turn keeps our feathered friends alive. During the extreme cold winter there are always reports of winter kills of birds. The Carolina wren is a perfect example. This noisy always- on -the- move little wren's population often dips after a severe winter. Ironically, some authorities believe the same drop in population would occur with 1 s Z the cardinal if it weren't for the exten- sive food provided by people feeding birds in their back yards. Before the 1920s the cardinal was a rare bird in the New York area. Then, as the rural area became populated, the cardinal's population start- ed to expand and move into Long Island. The first breeding recorded for car- dinals was in Nassau County back in 1946. Three years later it was reported breeding in western Suffolk. Then in 1949 Roy Latham found the first car- dinal nesting on the North Fork out at Greenport. Today it is one of the most popular and common birds to visit our feeders. And to think its abundance is largely due to the fact that back -yard feeding of birds has become so popular. Without that winter supply of seed, there's no telling where the cardinal popula- tion would be today. The cardinals are mem- bers of the finch family that includes the grosbeaks, buntings and sparrows. All have heavy bills for crack- ing and opening seeds. If you look closely at the cardina as it picks up a sunflower seed opens it, you can see the chaff as it cleverly maneuvers the se O rc�rt iC. rod "U-_ • Crac ke_'g • CereA ( t) • V i-�AVVO n 5 - Coo reveal its treasure. Of course, seeds aren't the only food of the cardinal. Insects of all sorts, pieces of fruit and flower buds are eaten when in season V- Another member of the finch fam- ily is the colorful sparrow -sized house finch that visits our feeders regularly. This raspberry - splashed member of th f, f 1 Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh We are all attracted to the brilliant scarlet red of the male cardinal, yet Its mate in her subdued olive color and red bill has a special charm all her own. It's hard to realize that cardinals were rare here on Long Island before 1920. I's bill We're dazzled by the brilliant red of 1950 a and the male cardinal for sure, but to me, 1958. falling the female in her own olive -drab cam- 1960 t ed to ouflage and red bill has a certain sub- Orient tle charm. I realized this years ago Toda when I photographed her on her nest nesting Kies, down our driveway. She had built a obsery ,d stick nest in a clump of cat brier which es are S, made her whole being blend into the bird. O surroundings, almost as if she wasn't ing site there. flower But even with her natural camou- front p r}. flage, she couldn't hide from Mrs. flower Cowbird, who promptly deposited one Peconi � of her own eggs in Mrs. Cardinal's chasing nest. Cowbirds never raise their own come a but leave that duty to someone else. basket This discouraging habit of laying their When eggs in other birds' nests wouldn't be pay for (P half bad if they were just raised as one sorry, t ' of the family but the young cowbird are bir hatches a few days before the others go get and therefore it has the edge in size enough and activity over the others. snuggle The end result is that the now big- their m ger and more aggressive young cow- One bird either pushes the weaker baby nested cardinals out of the nest or it grabs all wreath the food, causing the now weaker car- back p dinal babies to starve. This parasitizing there is of other birds' nests is causing much its nee concern for certain species that are there t losing ground to the cowbird's devilish The ways. Thank goodness this devastation lot of p hasn't crippled to any extent our car- is that • dinal population, as I now look out streake and see four male cardinals and three These females at the feeder. Other times charact LP there are even more. nu be Valentine Baskets Created and Delivered Delicious Prepared Foods Full Grocery and Supplement Line CALL US FOR SUPPER CLUB INFORMATION. A4 'yyvyS, • <,>�a> � f V � s:, 6,';:.: ,y'';:;�'��%9,5'",j,'S,V>.,`�;: 1 We Deliver • Open 7 Days ' 130 Front St., Green port • 477 -8803 p o S,Aros • "�.arLb h . �)JS'' Ir9. ' '"� "�N ° Z'0D �vU�-at , e me ami y �s an ag- gressive little fellow that loves its share of the small bird seed put out in our feeders. The interesting background of these color- ful little cheery songsters is the fact that they were first introduced into the west end in 1940 by bird dealers in Brooklyn who had bought them from California, not realizing they were protected. Fearing to be picked up on illegal possession of caged birds, they released the cap- tives somewhere on Long Island. The first observed occurrence of a house finch was an adult male at Jones Beach in 1941. The first finches observed living in the wild were in a Babylon nursery in the spring of 1942. The following year, on May 28, the first nest with young was found there in a small Austrian pine. From then on they spread eastward through Suffolk County in an finally reached Montauk in Yet it is interesting to note as of his species was unreported in by Roy Latham. y we see them in a variety of sites, most of which are easily ed as these colorful little finch- friendly and cosmopolitan f some of the interesting nest- s I recall, one was in a hanging container on Bessie Gagen's orch in Southold. Another container nesting site was at a c nursery where we were pur- potted plant. A lady had long and picked up a hanging from the open greenhouse. she brought it to the counter to it, she was informed: "I'm hat plant is not for sale. There ds nesting in it. You'll have to another one." And sure , there the young were, all d down in a nest awaiting other's return. house finch I remember even in an old, dried Christmas that was hanging on our son's orch. It just goes to show, if an appropriate site that meets need you'll find the house finch o utilize it. one thing that might confuse a eople in identifying these birds' the immature birds are mostly d and lack the raspberry color. young house finches with their eristic finch bills often far out- the more colorful. adults. • The S&folk�TimesYi, February 1.0, The cardinal: This is one of those down in the teens days. As we watch the seed eaters on our patio outside the big window we see them pick, run and then squat down on their legs and feet. I guess it is something like we do when we put our hands in our pockets to keep the warm. I often wonder how these tiny, thin Focus legs and toes escape freezing. ON After a bit of NATURE research I found the reason is that by Paul the legs and toes Stoutenburgh "have no fleshy muscle and only tough tendons with limited nerves and blood supply that make them far less susceptible to freezing than the fleshy parts of the body." I guess that's as good an explanation as you can get. Nevertheless, I still don't see why those delicate little feet and, legs don't freeze solid. Further along, my research does acknowledge that some birds do freeze and die when the tem- perature gets real cold for long peri- ods of time. Available food is the key to sur- vival. It stores up the body heat and in turn keeps our feathered friends alive. During the extreme cold winter there are always reports of winter kills of birds. The Carolina wren is a perfect example. This noisy always- on -the- move little wren's population often dips after a severe winter. Ironically, some authorities believe the same drop in population would occur with one fine finch Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh We are all attracted to the brilliant scarlet red of the male cardinal, yet its mate In her subdued olive color and red bill has a special charm all her own. It's hard to realize that cardinals were rare here on Long Island before 1920. the cardinal if it weren't for the exten- sive food provided by people feeding birds in their back yards. Before the 1920s the cardinal was a rare bird in the New York area. Then, as the rural area became populated, the cardinal's population start- ed to expand and move into Long Island. The first breeding recorded for car- dinals was in Nassau County back in 1946. Three years later it was reported breeding in western Suffolk. Then in 1949 Roy Latham found the first car- dinal nesting on the North Fork out at Greenport. Today it is one of the most popular and common birds to visit our feeders. And to think its abundance is largely due to the fact that back -yard feeding of birds has become so popular. Without that winter supply of seed, there's no telling where the cardinal popula- tion would be today. The cardinals are mem- bers of the finch family that includes the grosbeaks, buntings and sparrows. All have heavy bills for crack- ing and opening seeds. If you look closely at the cardinal's bill as it picks up a sunflower seed and opens it, you can see the chaff falling as it cleverly maneuvers the seed to reveal its treasure. Of course, seed;— aren't the only food of the cardinal. Insects of all sorts, pieces of fruit and flower buds are eaten when in seasor We're dazzled by the brilliant red of the male cardinal for sure, but to me, the female in her own olive -drab cam- ouflage and red bill has a certain sub- tle charm. I realized this years ago when I photographed her on her nest down our driveway. She had built a stick nest in a clump of cat brier which made her whole being blend into the surroundings, almost as if she wasn't there. But even with her natural camou- flage, she couldn't hide from Mrs. Cowbird, who promptly deposited one of her own eggs in Mrs. Cardinal's nest. Cowbirds never raise their own but leave that duty to someone else. This discouraging habit of laying their eggs in other birds' nests wouldn't be half bad if they were just raised as one of the family but the young cowbird hatches a few days before the others and therefore it has the edge in size and activity over the others. The end result is that the now big- ger and more aggressive young cow- bird either pushes the weaker baby cardinals out of the nest or it grabs all the food, causing the now weaker car- dinal babies to starve. This parasitizing of other birds' nests is causing much concern for certain species that are losing ground to the cowbird's devilish ways. Thank goodness this devastation hasn't crippled to any extent our car- dinal population, as I now look out and see four male cardinals and three females at the feeder. Other times there are even more. y is the colorful sparrow -sized house rich that visits our feeders regularly. his ras berry - splashed member of the finch family is an ag- gressive little fellow that loves its share of the small bird seed put out in our feeders. The interesting background of these color- ful little cheery songsters is the fact that they were first introduced into the west end in 1940 by bird dealers in Brooklyn who had bought them from California, not realizing they were protected. Fearing to be picked up on illegal possession of caged birds, they released the cap- tives somewhere on Long Island. The first observed occurrence of a house finch was an adult male at Jones Beach in 1941. The first finches observed living in the wild were in a Babylon nursery in the spring of 1942. The following year, on May 28, the first nest with young was found there in a small Austrian pine. From then on they spread eastward through Suffolk County in 1950 and finally reached Montauk in 1958. Yet it is- interesting to note as of 1960 this species was unreported in Orient by Roy Latham. Today we see them in a variety of nesting sites, most of which are easily observed as these colorful little finch- es are a friendly and cosmopolitan bird. Of some of the interesting nest- ing sites I recall, one was in a hanging flower container on Bessie Gagen's front porch in Southold. Another flower container nesting site was at a Yeconic nursery where we were pur- chasing potted plant. A lady had come along and picked up a hanging basket from the open greenhouse. When she brought it to the counter to pay for it, she was informed: "I'm sorry, that plant is not for sale. There are birds nesting in it. You'll have to go get another one." And sure enough, there the young were, all snuggled down in a nest awaiting their mother's return. One house finch I remember even nested in an old, dried Christmas reath that was hanging on our son's back porch. It just goes to show, if there is an appropriate site that meets its needs, you'll find the house finch there to utilize it. The one thing that might confuse a lot of people in identifying these birds is that the immature birds are mostly streaked and lack the raspberry color. These young house finches with their characteristic finch bills often far out- number the more rolorfid ari„Itc • The S&folk�TimesYi, February 1.0, The cardinal: This is one of those down in the teens days. As we watch the seed eaters on our patio outside the big window we see them pick, run and then squat down on their legs and feet. I guess it is something like we do when we put our hands in our pockets to keep the warm. I often wonder how these tiny, thin Focus legs and toes escape freezing. ON After a bit of NATURE research I found the reason is that by Paul the legs and toes Stoutenburgh "have no fleshy muscle and only tough tendons with limited nerves and blood supply that make them far less susceptible to freezing than the fleshy parts of the body." I guess that's as good an explanation as you can get. Nevertheless, I still don't see why those delicate little feet and, legs don't freeze solid. Further along, my research does acknowledge that some birds do freeze and die when the tem- perature gets real cold for long peri- ods of time. Available food is the key to sur- vival. It stores up the body heat and in turn keeps our feathered friends alive. During the extreme cold winter there are always reports of winter kills of birds. The Carolina wren is a perfect example. This noisy always- on -the- move little wren's population often dips after a severe winter. Ironically, some authorities believe the same drop in population would occur with one fine finch Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh We are all attracted to the brilliant scarlet red of the male cardinal, yet its mate In her subdued olive color and red bill has a special charm all her own. It's hard to realize that cardinals were rare here on Long Island before 1920. the cardinal if it weren't for the exten- sive food provided by people feeding birds in their back yards. Before the 1920s the cardinal was a rare bird in the New York area. Then, as the rural area became populated, the cardinal's population start- ed to expand and move into Long Island. The first breeding recorded for car- dinals was in Nassau County back in 1946. Three years later it was reported breeding in western Suffolk. Then in 1949 Roy Latham found the first car- dinal nesting on the North Fork out at Greenport. Today it is one of the most popular and common birds to visit our feeders. And to think its abundance is largely due to the fact that back -yard feeding of birds has become so popular. Without that winter supply of seed, there's no telling where the cardinal popula- tion would be today. The cardinals are mem- bers of the finch family that includes the grosbeaks, buntings and sparrows. All have heavy bills for crack- ing and opening seeds. If you look closely at the cardinal's bill as it picks up a sunflower seed and opens it, you can see the chaff falling as it cleverly maneuvers the seed to reveal its treasure. Of course, seed;— aren't the only food of the cardinal. Insects of all sorts, pieces of fruit and flower buds are eaten when in seasor We're dazzled by the brilliant red of the male cardinal for sure, but to me, the female in her own olive -drab cam- ouflage and red bill has a certain sub- tle charm. I realized this years ago when I photographed her on her nest down our driveway. She had built a stick nest in a clump of cat brier which made her whole being blend into the surroundings, almost as if she wasn't there. But even with her natural camou- flage, she couldn't hide from Mrs. Cowbird, who promptly deposited one of her own eggs in Mrs. Cardinal's nest. Cowbirds never raise their own but leave that duty to someone else. This discouraging habit of laying their eggs in other birds' nests wouldn't be half bad if they were just raised as one of the family but the young cowbird hatches a few days before the others and therefore it has the edge in size and activity over the others. The end result is that the now big- ger and more aggressive young cow- bird either pushes the weaker baby cardinals out of the nest or it grabs all the food, causing the now weaker car- dinal babies to starve. This parasitizing of other birds' nests is causing much concern for certain species that are losing ground to the cowbird's devilish ways. Thank goodness this devastation hasn't crippled to any extent our car- dinal population, as I now look out and see four male cardinals and three females at the feeder. Other times there are even more. y is the colorful sparrow -sized house rich that visits our feeders regularly. his ras berry - splashed member of the finch family is an ag- gressive little fellow that loves its share of the small bird seed put out in our feeders. The interesting background of these color- ful little cheery songsters is the fact that they were first introduced into the west end in 1940 by bird dealers in Brooklyn who had bought them from California, not realizing they were protected. Fearing to be picked up on illegal possession of caged birds, they released the cap- tives somewhere on Long Island. The first observed occurrence of a house finch was an adult male at Jones Beach in 1941. The first finches observed living in the wild were in a Babylon nursery in the spring of 1942. The following year, on May 28, the first nest with young was found there in a small Austrian pine. From then on they spread eastward through Suffolk County in 1950 and finally reached Montauk in 1958. Yet it is- interesting to note as of 1960 this species was unreported in Orient by Roy Latham. Today we see them in a variety of nesting sites, most of which are easily observed as these colorful little finch- es are a friendly and cosmopolitan bird. Of some of the interesting nest- ing sites I recall, one was in a hanging flower container on Bessie Gagen's front porch in Southold. Another flower container nesting site was at a Yeconic nursery where we were pur- chasing potted plant. A lady had come along and picked up a hanging basket from the open greenhouse. When she brought it to the counter to pay for it, she was informed: "I'm sorry, that plant is not for sale. There are birds nesting in it. You'll have to go get another one." And sure enough, there the young were, all snuggled down in a nest awaiting their mother's return. One house finch I remember even nested in an old, dried Christmas reath that was hanging on our son's back porch. It just goes to show, if there is an appropriate site that meets its needs, you'll find the house finch there to utilize it. The one thing that might confuse a lot of people in identifying these birds is that the immature birds are mostly streaked and lack the raspberry color. These young house finches with their characteristic finch bills often far out- number the more rolorfid ari„Itc • The S&folk�TimesYi, February 1.0, The cardinal: This is one of those down in the teens days. As we watch the seed eaters on our patio outside the big window we see them pick, run and then squat down on their legs and feet. I guess it is something like we do when we put our hands in our pockets to keep the warm. I often wonder how these tiny, thin Focus legs and toes escape freezing. ON After a bit of NATURE research I found the reason is that by Paul the legs and toes Stoutenburgh "have no fleshy muscle and only tough tendons with limited nerves and blood supply that make them far less susceptible to freezing than the fleshy parts of the body." I guess that's as good an explanation as you can get. Nevertheless, I still don't see why those delicate little feet and, legs don't freeze solid. Further along, my research does acknowledge that some birds do freeze and die when the tem- perature gets real cold for long peri- ods of time. Available food is the key to sur- vival. It stores up the body heat and in turn keeps our feathered friends alive. During the extreme cold winter there are always reports of winter kills of birds. The Carolina wren is a perfect example. This noisy always- on -the- move little wren's population often dips after a severe winter. Ironically, some authorities believe the same drop in population would occur with one fine finch Suffolk Times photo by Paul Stoutenburgh We are all attracted to the brilliant scarlet red of the male cardinal, yet its mate In her subdued olive color and red bill has a special charm all her own. It's hard to realize that cardinals were rare here on Long Island before 1920. the cardinal if it weren't for the exten- sive food provided by people feeding birds in their back yards. Before the 1920s the cardinal was a rare bird in the New York area. Then, as the rural area became populated, the cardinal's population start- ed to expand and move into Long Island. The first breeding recorded for car- dinals was in Nassau County back in 1946. Three years later it was reported breeding in western Suffolk. Then in 1949 Roy Latham found the first car- dinal nesting on the North Fork out at Greenport. Today it is one of the most popular and common birds to visit our feeders. And to think its abundance is largely due to the fact that back -yard feeding of birds has become so popular. Without that winter supply of seed, there's no telling where the cardinal popula- tion would be today. The cardinals are mem- bers of the finch family that includes the grosbeaks, buntings and sparrows. All have heavy bills for crack- ing and opening seeds. If you look closely at the cardinal's bill as it picks up a sunflower seed and opens it, you can see the chaff falling as it cleverly maneuvers the seed to reveal its treasure. Of course, seed;— aren't the only food of the cardinal. Insects of all sorts, pieces of fruit and flower buds are eaten when in seasor We're dazzled by the brilliant red of the male cardinal for sure, but to me, the female in her own olive -drab cam- ouflage and red bill has a certain sub- tle charm. I realized this years ago when I photographed her on her nest down our driveway. She had built a stick nest in a clump of cat brier which made her whole being blend into the surroundings, almost as if she wasn't there. But even with her natural camou- flage, she couldn't hide from Mrs. Cowbird, who promptly deposited one of her own eggs in Mrs. Cardinal's nest. Cowbirds never raise their own but leave that duty to someone else. This discouraging habit of laying their eggs in other birds' nests wouldn't be half bad if they were just raised as one of the family but the young cowbird hatches a few days before the others and therefore it has the edge in size and activity over the others. The end result is that the now big- ger and more aggressive young cow- bird either pushes the weaker baby cardinals out of the nest or it grabs all the food, causing the now weaker car- dinal babies to starve. This parasitizing of other birds' nests is causing much concern for certain species that are losing ground to the cowbird's devilish ways. Thank goodness this devastation hasn't crippled to any extent our car- dinal population, as I now look out and see four male cardinals and three females at the feeder. Other times there are even more. y is the colorful sparrow -sized house rich that visits our feeders regularly. his ras berry - splashed member of the finch family is an ag- gressive little fellow that loves its share of the small bird seed put out in our feeders. The interesting background of these color- ful little cheery songsters is the fact that they were first introduced into the west end in 1940 by bird dealers in Brooklyn who had bought them from California, not realizing they were protected. Fearing to be picked up on illegal possession of caged birds, they released the cap- tives somewhere on Long Island. The first observed occurrence of a house finch was an adult male at Jones Beach in 1941. The first finches observed living in the wild were in a Babylon nursery in the spring of 1942. The following year, on May 28, the first nest with young was found there in a small Austrian pine. From then on they spread eastward through Suffolk County in 1950 and finally reached Montauk in 1958. Yet it is- interesting to note as of 1960 this species was unreported in Orient by Roy Latham. Today we see them in a variety of nesting sites, most of which are easily observed as these colorful little finch- es are a friendly and cosmopolitan bird. Of some of the interesting nest- ing sites I recall, one was in a hanging flower container on Bessie Gagen's front porch in Southold. Another flower container nesting site was at a Yeconic nursery where we were pur- chasing potted plant. A lady had come along and picked up a hanging basket from the open greenhouse. When she brought it to the counter to pay for it, she was informed: "I'm sorry, that plant is not for sale. There are birds nesting in it. You'll have to go get another one." And sure enough, there the young were, all snuggled down in a nest awaiting their mother's return. One house finch I remember even nested in an old, dried Christmas reath that was hanging on our son's back porch. It just goes to show, if there is an appropriate site that meets its needs, you'll find the house finch there to utilize it. The one thing that might confuse a lot of people in identifying these birds is that the immature birds are mostly streaked and lack the raspberry color. These young house finches with their characteristic finch bills often far out- number the more rolorfid ari„Itc