It's such a treat to look out the kitchen window on a cold winter or spring morning and see our resident Northern Cardinal (and his less colorful tan female partner) enjoying a breakfast of sunflower seeds and other treats at the feeder. I never tire of spotting the brilliant red feathers amidst the grey landscape as I reach for the coffee pot. Birdwatching is big here on Nantucket. Though I'm not one of the more avid birders, I have learned a lot from them, particularly when I worked at the Maria Mitchell Association when arriving on the island to live here full-time. Both newspapers have bird columnists--Ken Blackshaw at the Nantucket Independent and the venerable Edith Andrews at the Nantucket Inquirer & Mirror. They've co-authored popular Nantucket birding guides, which are sold at the Maria Mitchell gift shop, and are active leaders of the Sunday morning bird watching group and also the annual Christmas bird count.
Ken's column in today's Independent contains a wealth of information about the cardinal on Nantucket.
According to Ken, the scientific name is Cardinalis cardinalis, named for members of the College of Cardinals of the Catholic Church. Most don't migrate at all and are among the most sedentary of bird species, says Ken. They only travel a few hundred yards from where they are hatched (in a woven nest of sticks, vines and other woody material where three eggs are laid and where both parents share incubation and chick-raising). He also points out that Northern Cardinals are not native to the island and it's not unusual for them to raise two families in one season. Cardinals were first found in the Christmas bird count in 1960, with a peaking of 321 sighted during the 2005 Christmas bird count, Ken said. So I suppose my feathered friends could be considered washashores like Craig and myself!
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