Cardinalis cardinalis
grrlscientist | June 1, 2009tags: Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, photographed at Paul Rushing Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 28 March 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | February 17, 2009tags: Central Park Wildlife, New York City, Bob Levy, image of the day
Northern Cardinal Gets His Turn In The Spotlight
Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George [larger view].
The photographer writes;
A shaft of sunlight fortuitously fell on this male Northern Cardinal at just the right moment. I regularly visit a set of cardinal families. I wish I knew which of the Central Park clans this fella was from but I don't. It does not take away from the enjoyment of this image, does it?
grrlscientist | December 25, 2008tags: Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Male Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, photographed at 40 Acre Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 19 March 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/125s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
This bird is pretty much "all field mark," to lift a phrase…
grrlscientist | November 27, 2008tags: Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, photographed at 40 Acre Lake, Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 28 February 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/50s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
The huge bill, long crest, and lavish tail put us onto the…
grrlscientist | September 19, 2008tags: Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, Central Park, Image of the Day
Give that bird a comb!!
Male Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, in moult.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George [larger].
The photographer writes;
As a writer I am loathe to use an exclamation point so my carefully considered use of two should give you an indication of the strength of my reaction when Papa Museum came out of the shrubbery on a last August afternoon. Wooo. Give that bird a comb!! He has since improved in appearance and is enthusiastically tending to his three fledglings. It is…
grrlscientist | September 16, 2008tags: Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, Central Park, Image of the Day
Mama Shakespeare's Guacamole?
Female Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George [larger].
The photographer writes;
Mama Shakespeare interrupted her meal to pay me a visit in, where else, Central Park's Shakespeare Garden. Look at her closely. No, that isn't guacamole squirting out of her beak. It is of insect origin but I do not know precisely what creature it formerly was. I do know that I have seen this same light shade of green protruding from Northern Cardinal…
grrlscientist | June 7, 2008tags: northern cardinals, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, Central Park, Image of the Day
Mama knows best.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George [larger].
The photographer, Bob Levy, writes;
Remember my story about Mama and Papa Bank Rock: Behind the Green Mesh (see this website May 25, 2008, also see part 2 and part 3)? Well, apparently Mama is still convinced she is invisible as she continues to incubate her eggs. To date, with the exception of a few bird-watchers, she has gone undetected. When Mama Bank Rock got off the nest during my last visit I stood on tiptoe to get a look inside.…
grrlscientist | June 6, 2008tags: northern cardinals, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, Central Park, Image of the Day
Mama and Papa Bank Rock: Behind the Green Mesh.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George [larger].
The photographer, Bob Levy, writes;
Finding the Bank Rock nest had been fully constructed was a satisfying discovery but I felt I still did not have the information I wanted. Without seeing either cardinal at the site I did not know if it was still active or if it had abandoned. I decided to continue my walk but come back later for another look. I returned forty minutes later. I stopped twenty feet away and…
grrlscientist | June 5, 2008tags: northern cardinals, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, Central Park, Image of the Day
Mama and Papa Bank Rock: Behind the Green Mesh.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George [larger].
The photographer, Bob Levy, writes;
I returned to the park two days later. It was raining lightly but steadily so my camera was tucked inside its case. The light was poor for both photography and bird-watching but from about fifteen feet away I saw evidence that Mama Bank Rock had indeed returned to her nest. A gleaming white object was tucked behind the fence where the Northern Cardinal and I had last met.…
grrlscientist | May 25, 2008tags: northern cardinals, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, Central Park, Image of the Day
You do not have to be a photography expert to notice that the only thing in focus in this image is the green mesh in the foreground and even then you might have to enlarge it to see that it is so. To appreciate why I relish this photo a detailed explanation is necessary. Of course that might be said about many of my other images too but none more so than this one: at least so far.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George [larger].
The photographer, Bob Levy, writes;
You will, I hope, recognize that there…
grrlscientist | April 26, 2008tags: Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, Central Park, Image of the Day
Female Central Park cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George [larger].
Bob Levy writes;
I caught Mama Castle deep into her Yoga session. Here she beautifully demonstrates perfect form in her flawless performance of the Blowing Palm pose. I wish I could do it as well. Sigh.
grrlscientist | April 20, 2008tags: birds, Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, ornithology, Image of the Day
Note the paper teabag wrapper in the photo. I think it adds a "New Yorkish touch" to its construction.
Nest of the Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, located in a tree in the traffic circle in front of the Museum's parking garage.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George [larger view].
Did you notice the pale blue eggs in the nest?
grrlscientist | April 19, 2008tags: birds, Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, ornithology, Image of the Day
Papa Museum's left eye was unwaveringly fixed on mine.
Male Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George [larger view].
Bob Levy writes:
A sure sign that "spring hath sprunged" is the appearance of songbird nests. I found my first one this season in an unexpected fashion but then I have come to expect the unexpected when bird-watching. For several minutes I had been standing beside a wrought iron fence where the sight and sound of a singing male House Finch mesmerized…
grrlscientist | March 3, 2008tags: birds, Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, ornithology, Image of the Day
Male Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, in Central Park.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [larger size].
The photographer, Bob Levy, writes; On Friday February 22, arguably the most wintry of days so far this season, as six inches of snow covered Central Park and more was falling I heard a male Northern Cardinal sing. That was the first cardinal song I detected this year and I took it as a musical sign that Spring is near. Since then I have heard other males sing and just yesterday I saw…
grrlscientist | November 25, 2007tags: Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, NYC, Central Park, Image of the Day
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [wallpaper size].
grrlscientist | November 24, 2007tags: Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, birds, Image of the Day
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [wallpaper size].
The photographer writes: On November 18, you posted an image of a male English (House) Sparrow. "Albatrosity", an astute parrot pal commentator, noted that the black bib feathers on this bird have gray tips that will wear away by the time breeding season comes around. I have two recent images of Papa Castle, a Northern Cardinal of my acquaintance, that illustrate a similar process at work except on a larger scale.
In the first image close-up you can see a gray…
grrlscientist | October 19, 2007tags: northern cardinal, birds, Image of the Day
Female Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, feeds her chick in Central Park.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [Wallpaper size]
I came upon Mama Castle foraging with her youngest fledgling in Central Park's Shakespeare Garden. Mama Castle and I are well acquainted so it was not at all unusual for her to rush toward me when I whistled. She stopped on the top of a rock waiting for the peanut she expected me to provide. When she received it she took it to her previous perch and called out. Her fledgling rushed to her side. Then Mama…
grrlscientist | October 18, 2007tags: northern cardinal, birds, Image of the Day
Moulting Female Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis,
in Central Park, NYC.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [Wallpaper size]
About a month ago, I found an adult female [Northern cardinal that] I call Mama Castle in a decidedly striking condition. The protrusion of feathers jutting out from her lower extremities and those missing from her face made her look as if she were a survivor from an explosion in a mattress factory. Not only could she be described as having a bad "hair" day but perhaps a facial would have been a good idea…
grrlscientist | September 14, 2007tags: birds, Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, Image of the Day
Male Northern cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis, in Central Park during moult.
Image: Bob Levy, author of Club George. [wallpaper size].
More about this image below the fold.
The photographer writes: I'm not sure how to file this particular photo. Does it go in the "almost-too-cute-for-words" file or the "evil eye" file?
The adult male striking this provocative pose is one I call "Papa Meadow" because the center of his territory is the Maintenance Meadow in Central Park. Here he seems to be giving me an…