© Dennett ~ Red ~ Northern Cardinal

Bird Photography

Red, White & Blue

The colors of spring

Cool bird facts:

Northern Cardinals will typically be the first birds to visit your birdfeeder in the morning and the last in the late evening. I often see my backyard Cardinal couple snacking at the feeder after sunset.

During courtship, the male feeds the female, a practice called beak-to-beak, which looks like the birds are kissing.

Northern Cardinals are monogamous, at least for a year through the mating and nesting season and sometimes for life. And how long is that? Cardinals live three to five years.

© Dennett ~ White ~ Great Egret

Great Egrets occupy all continents except Antarctica.

Great Egrets live about 15 years in the wild.

The Great Egret is the symbol of the National Audubon Society.

© Dennett ~ Blue ~ Little Blue Heron

Little Blue Herons can fly 20 miles an hour.

Little Blue Herons weigh about 3/4 of a pound.

Little Blue chicks are white and don’t start turning blue until their second year.

© Dennett ~ Red ~ American Robin

American Robins belong to the Thrush family, as do Eastern Bluebirds, and they are the largest Thrushes in North America. They are also one of the most common birds in North America and can be found in every state in the USA.

American Robins often travel as much as 3,000 miles during migration.

Robin’s eggs are blue, and the inspiration for a paint called, yes, Robin’s Egg Blue.

© Dennett ~ White ~ Snowy Egret

In the 19th century, Snowy Egrets and Great Whites were hunted almost to extinction for their gorgeous silky plumes. The plumes were used for hats and fishing lures.

Adult Snowies have greenish-yellow feet that turn orangey-yellow during mating season.

A mating Snowy couple can’t recognize one another except at their nest. When the male returns to the nest with food, he has to go through a complicated identification ritual, so the female doesn’t attack him.

© Dennett ~ Blue ~ Eastern Bluebird

Bluebirds nest in preexisting tree cavities, often (75% of the time) where a woodpecker nested the year before.

They may be little, but Bluebirds are fast, capable of reaching 45 mph.

Only about 50% of Bluebirds survive their first year, and 25% of those survivors make it through a second year. By the fifth year, only 3% of the original group of birds will still be living. However, if a Bluebird can survive five years, it may live as many as five additional years.

© Dennett 2023