Red-crested Cardinal, aka Brazilian Cardinal ...Click foto to enlarge
I was not alone at the COP. There were two other birders (they preferred not to be named) were anxiously searching this bird when I got to the park. They greeted me with a warm smile and we all knew what they were searching for and they told me they have not had any luck this morning. I suggested we split into two teams and looked around ground and low tree as cardinals like to forage on ground and low brushes. I even brought a big bag of mixed seeds because I had no idea if this Brazilian beauty eats what seed or if he or she eats only tacos :)
After spreading seeds all over the place (thank god, there is no police around), with less than 5 min, this beautiful Red-crested Cardinal flew into my eye level and landed on a tree about 10 feet from me. And that was 11:45 AM, as per Gus, he saw this bird at 11:30. I was stunned by this bird's beautiful plumage and more surprised that she did not get scared away by me standing so close to her. As far as I could remember my finger kept snapping for the next 10 min. The other two birders also came back and I waved at them and gestured them to come towards me. I could see how happy they were when they saw this bird. I stayed for another hour and got a lot of HD videos and she again, showed up at 12:55 PM. Though both sexes look similar, I think this bird is a female because I saw her picking up nesting material and flew to a nearby tall tree! That made me wondering if there is a pair ....
As soon as I parked my car, I kind of knew today might be my lucky day because FREE parking on holiday :) I hope you enjoy this post. --Happy Birding! -- Linda
Linda, It was your lucky day! Fabulous capture of this striking bird.
ReplyDeleteI will try to get down to COP soon!
Thanks Jean! Let me know if you decide to come down here. I know this bird will stay around COP for a while but just not sure how long and I really hope I can see more than one :)
ReplyDeleteI spotted 2 of these on 4-12-12 in my backyard in Kennesaw GA.
Deletevzmaggie,
ReplyDeleteHave you reported your sighting on ebird? Or if you have taken pictures? Red-crested Cardinals are not sexually dimorphic so they are very likely to be a pair!
Are these birds still around? Going to be heading from West Tn to East Tn soon and would be willing to think about making a detour if they are still around.
ReplyDeleteHossC, I am sure she is still there. If it's not too much trouble for you, I will encourage you to stop by the park. Good luck!
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