Northern Cardinal (Female)

"Female Northern Cardinal in Lopatcong, NJ"

 

WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY – LOPATCONG, NJ

This photograph is of a female Northern Cardinal captured in the rural town of Lopatcong, New Jersey. The camera gear used for this bird photo was a Nikon D200 attached to a Nikkor 200mm lens.

The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is a North American bird in the genus Cardinalis; it is also known colloquially as the redbird or common cardinal. It can be found in southern Canada, through the eastern United States from Maine to Texas and south through Mexico. It is found in woodlands, gardens, shrublands, and swamps.

The Northern Cardinal is a fairly large, long-tailed songbird with a short, very thick bill and a prominent crest. Cardinals often sit with a hunched-over posture and with the tail pointed straight down.

Gender identification of the Northern Cardinal is quite easy. Male cardinals are brilliant red all over, with a reddish bill and black face immediately around the bill. Females are pale brown overall with warm reddish tinges in the wings, tail, and crest. They have the same black face and red-orange bill.

Northern Cardinals tend to sit low in shrubs and trees or forage on or near the ground, often in pairs. They are common at bird feeders but may be inconspicuous away from them, at least until you learn their loud, metallic chip note.

The male Northern Cardinal is perhaps responsible for getting more people to open up a field guide than any other bird. They’re a perfect combination of familiarity, conspicuousness, and style: a shade of red you can’t take your eyes off. Even the brown females sport a sharp crest and warm red accents. Cardinals don’t migrate and they don’t molt into a dull plumage, so they’re still breathtaking in winter’s snowy backyards. In summer, their sweet whistles are one of the first sounds of the morning.

 

 

Subject Photo exif Data

Camera Make and Model NIKON D200

Photo taken on February 14, 2010, 11:03 am

Focal Length 200mm

Shutter Speed 1/59.999999999999

Aperture @ƒ/5.6

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2 Thoughts to “Northern Cardinal (Female)”

  1. Ilya333

    Outstanding photo Alan 🙂

  2. Kanika Basak (@kanika_basak)

    Northern Cardinal (Female) http://t.co/v7hOOUo4 via @wibiya

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Alan S Hochman Photography