Question about cardinals ...

I have a large family of cardinals that live near my yard that frequent my yard all day long. I have had the good fortune of watching a mother bird teach her babies to eat seeds right at my feeder. I've watched them play (chase each other around my yard flying from tree to bush to plants), eat, and drink in my yard. I've observed them for years, but I saw a behavior this morning that I have never seen ...

I have a Cape Honeysuckle growing (in tree form) in the corner of my backyard. It is a favorite of the hummingbirds and the bees when in bloom. It is currently blooming and will continue to bloom off and on from Fall to early Spring. It blooms right through the winter here unless it gets killed back by an unusually cold (freezing) winter weather. That happened last year here in Florida, so the tree isn't as big as it was, but ... it is still growing and producing lots of blooms.

Here is the behavior I observed this morning. I watched a couple of cardinals pulling the blooms off the CH tree one at a time At first I thought maybe they were eating bugs in the blooms or were just bored or playing. But the longer I watched them, the more convinced I am that they were eating the nectar in the blooms. They would pull the bloom off from the base and seemed to manipulate the blooms with their beaks and appeared to be using their tongues to lick the base of each bloom. They would hop from branch to branch going after each bloom cluster.

Now the negative thing about this is that the hummers and bees also enjoy the nectar. The cardinals are actually removing the blooms from the tree, therefore destroying a good nectar source for other creatures. I tried to shoo the cardinals away! I am sure they were laughing at me, because they are not afraid of me. (I've been feeding them seeds for years!) They came right back to the tree the minute I walked away! LOL! And there are 2 in the tree right now pulling more blooms off once again. At this rate, the tree will be striped of blooms by the end of the day! Grrrrr ...

If it wasn't such a good nectar source for the hummingbirds, I wouldn't even worry about it. But the hummers also love those blooms. I do have hummingbird feeders up, but the hummers always go for the blooms in my yard first and then the feeders. I've never seen this behavior from the cardinals before. My tree was always loaded with blooms in previous years, but this year I noticed it was sparsely blooming and now I know why! Ha!

Is this a common behavior of cardinals? Is there a reason that the birds are doing that? Are they fattening up for another cold winter here in Florida? I am really curious! I have never seen seed-eating birds do that before!

This message was edited Oct 23, 2010 3:41 PM

I think I may have found the answer to part of my question. Apparently, the cardinals DO lick the nectar out of the Cape Honeysuckle blooms: http://www.flickr.com/photos/musicarver/3067092660/

Since I have never seen them do that before, does it possibly signify that we might be in for another cold winter? Are they fattening up on the nectar instead of protein from the seeds? Or do they like dessert with their meals? LOL!

That Cape Honeysuckle tree is the most popular plant in my yard right now. First come the cardinals in the morning, then some other unknown birds that like to perch in it, and then the hummers come and sit and nectar from it off and on most of the day! I guess I need to plant more of them in my yard, huh?

This message was edited Oct 23, 2010 3:44 PM

becky, I don't have Cardinals here, but did notice seed eating birds pick at the blooms of my Crabapples tree and some fushia blooms as well. I've seen Purple finch do this and seen some fruit eating birds like Waxwing do it too.

In all the years I've had cardinals in my yard, I've never noticed this behavior until recently.

burn_2007 - Sounds like other birds may do it, too! Interesting! I had NO idea birds would go after the nectar in blooms! LOL! Obviously they enjoy a sweet treat every now and again!

LOl, don't blame them at all, after all their diet is not as varied as ours.

Becky I posted a pic of a Cardinal doing the same thing on my Cape Honeysuckle a year or so ago. It would be a chore to find it, though. She was drinking the nectar from the flowers, fascinating to watch.

Teresa - Thanks for confirming what the cardinal was doing! Pretty neat!

I was watching the action at the Cape Honeysuckle this morning and saw not one or two but ... four Painted Buntings!!! I was so surprised to have that many now. They hang out with the cardinals, so there was the Painted Buntings and about 3 or 4 Cardinals as well all playing together around the Cape Honeysuckle tree. Some were removing blooms again. Luckily, they left some for the hummers. Then all the Blue Jays and Doves came in to eat breakfast at the feeder. It was so noisy out there, I could believe it! The birds come to the bird bath or the waterfall to drink ... several birds at one time! Maybe they think it is safer in numbers?! LOL! There were a lot of birds out there this morning! Grand Central Station!!! LOL

When the Cape Honeysuckle froze to almost the ground last year, there was nothing left but a mass of dead branches. I removed more than half of them, but left the rest for the hummers to perch. Well, it is apparently a perching spot of all the other small to medium sized birds too. And the Cape Honeysuckle replaced a lot of it's growth (low on the tree), so the birds for some reason fly and hop in and out of that mass of undergrowth branches and leaves. I don't know what they are doing in there? If it were Spring, I'd say nesting ... but they must just be playing or perching undercover in the shade. That is the busiest section of my backyard. Birds and butterflies flying in and out of that corner. It's at the east corner of the Hummingbird & Butterfly Zen Garden! LOL!