This morning before beginning the routine, I put out a bit of bird seed for my fine feathered friends. It only took a few moments before a beautiful male cardinal alighted on the garden bench holding seed. Ahh, my sweet friend has come to visit! Then, another cardinal came to eat. My first thought was that this was the male's ladylove but, on closer inspection, I realized that this was a juvenile bird. Daddy Cardinal was teaching his offspring where to find food. The brightly colored male did not feed the youngster but made a big fuss over picking seeds from the plank. The youngster sat cheeping and fluttering its wings but to no avail. Father knew best. Let the youngster learn to eat by itself. Finally. the little one gave up hope of being fed and started eating on its own.
Seeing this interaction brought smiles. Not only was the father bird teaching his offspring where to find food but he felt safe enough to bring his little one to the feeder. From my vantage point of 6 feet away, I was delighted to view the birds and felt honored that I was trusted. This, my friends, added to that emotional care...now if only the physical therapy was that easy.
As a little note here, juvenile cardinals greatly resemble the females and it is somewhat difficult to distinguish which is which. The easiest method is to check the bill. A female has the bright red "cardinal" bill whereas a juvenile has a grayish or almost black bill.
