Comments on: Cardinals see red http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/02/07/cardinals-see-red/ A Bird Blog with Kate St. John Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:53:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.4 By: myontz http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/02/07/cardinals-see-red/comment-page-1/#comment-9574 myontz Sun, 16 May 2010 16:55:25 +0000 http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/02/07/cardinals-see-red/#comment-9574 Thanks for the information! I will leave the old nest there. There is another nest right below it completely made of grasses. The cardinal nest was textbook with grapevines and everything. Both nests were being built at the same time. My mom saw a robin working on the second one, but it appears the cardinals claimed the tree. It is good to know that they are probably doing just fine. I saw both the male and female across the road at the edge of the woods. They were both sitting on the branches of fallen trees. Thanks for the information! I will leave the old nest there. There is another nest right below it completely made of grasses. The cardinal nest was textbook with grapevines and everything. Both nests were being built at the same time. My mom saw a robin working on the second one, but it appears the cardinals claimed the tree. It is good to know that they are probably doing just fine. I saw both the male and female across the road at the edge of the woods. They were both sitting on the branches of fallen trees.

]]> By: Kate St. John http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/02/07/cardinals-see-red/comment-page-1/#comment-9571 Kate St. John Sat, 15 May 2010 11:26:51 +0000 http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/02/07/cardinals-see-red/#comment-9571 Don't remove the old nest! Cardinals build a new nest for each brood but the presence of an old empty nest serves as a decoy to keep predators away from the new one. Were the fledglings old enough to survive? Yes, cardinal nestlings leave the nest before they can fly well. During this early period they hide and are very hard to find, even by scientists who are trying to study them(!). Their parents continue to feed them for about a month after they leave the nest. The fledglings will come out of hiding when they can fly better. Don’t remove the old nest! Cardinals build a new nest for each brood but the presence of an old empty nest serves as a decoy to keep predators away from the new one.

Were the fledglings old enough to survive? Yes, cardinal nestlings leave the nest before they can fly well. During this early period they hide and are very hard to find, even by scientists who are trying to study them(!). Their parents continue to feed them for about a month after they leave the nest. The fledglings will come out of hiding when they can fly better.

]]> By: myontz http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/02/07/cardinals-see-red/comment-page-1/#comment-9568 myontz Sat, 15 May 2010 00:36:07 +0000 http://www.wqed.org/birdblog/2008/02/07/cardinals-see-red/#comment-9568 I have a cardinal question. This year a pair built a nest in the pine tree right outside my window. I was able to watch the whole process. One day when I came home from school, the little ones had left the nest and were sitting on the branches of the tree. The male was on the ground. When I went to bed, I could only see one of the chicks. The next day, they were gone. They did not have tail feathers yet, but they were pretty big. My questions are...do you think they were old enough to survive outside of the nest and is this typical for the babies to leave the nest before they can fly? Also, should I take the old nest out of the three in hopes that they will build there again? Thank you for your time and information! I have a cardinal question. This year a pair built a nest in the pine tree right outside my window. I was able to watch the whole process. One day when I came home from school, the little ones had left the nest and were sitting on the branches of the tree. The male was on the ground. When I went to bed, I could only see one of the chicks. The next day, they were gone. They did not have tail feathers yet, but they were pretty big. My questions are…do you think they were old enough to survive outside of the nest and is this typical for the babies to leave the nest before they can fly? Also, should I take the old nest out of the three in hopes that they will build there again? Thank you for your time and information!

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