Female Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)


Female Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Ruby Tuesday
Female Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

I usually post flower photos for Ruby Tuesday, but for a change, here is an adolescent female Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), with her ruby bill.  These birds are native to the eastern United States mainland.  They were introduced into Hawaii in the late 1920s.

28 comments:

Felisol said...

Such a fine feathered female of rank.
Also marvelous how well she has chosen her camouflage amongst stones of her own color.
From Felisol

Anonymous said...

What a great bird, and what a great capture, too!

My RT entries are posted here and here. Happy Tuesday!

Anonymous said...

That's a great shot! Nice one!Mine is posted HERE. Happy RT!~

Jim said...

Hi Bobbie, this is a very pretty bird. Not everything introduced to Hawaii was good for your state. I couldn't find any fault with cardinals, but rabbits seemed OK to people too.
Your Nikon does wonderful! :-)
..

Anonymous said...

What a fabulous photo of this bird. Such great detail. I like it!
Happy ruby tuesday!

Mojo said...

The cardinal is our state bird, but the females here are darker... brown with a reddish undertone. The males however are a very bright red!

This one here looks a little disheveled. Who knew cardinals party too hard? Maybe she just needs some of that kick-butt Kona coffee!

Grandma Faith said...

Pretty, pretty bird. The background is great in this picture. I like the texture it gives the picture.

Tink *~*~* said...

Cardinals were one of my biggest joys when I was tending the bird feeders up north. :D Loved hearing them "chip" at each other.

Tink *~*~*
My Mobile Adventures *~*~*

♥peachkins♥ said...

cute bird!♥ loved the photo!

Barbara Martin said...

If they are similar to the cardinals in Toronto, they are so tiny and pretty. I never saw them until I moved here from western Canada.

MumbaiiteAnu said...

Great capture of the cardinal, and nice background.

My Ruby Window

Anonymous said...

great capture, Bobbie! good it did not fly away when u snoop to capture her. :)

hapi tuesday!

Anonymous said...

A well captured cardinal bird :)
Happy Ruby Tuesday! :)

Gemma Wiseman said...

What a cutie! And the line markings round the beak make it look as if it is grimacing about something!

Michele said...

Bobbie... I loved the bird... standing so proud and posed just perfectly for you... the colors are striking and the clarity is outstanding! Great photo.

I thank you so very much for popping by my blog and offering me support and wonderful comments when life was icky for the last couple weeks. I'm on the road to recovery now and I'm happy to be back... a little sporadic as I tire out easily but I'm here and that's important =)
{Hug}
~Michele~

me ann my camera said...

We are lucky if we have one or two Cardinals show up in our feeder area each year, and it is always a special event when they do.Your picture is lovely.

Robin said...

Beautiful shot. I always think of cardinals as being bright red, this one really took me by surprise. She's a beauty though.

Katy said...

I wish I was in Hawaii, it sounds so warm and relaxing! I love watching birds, they are such innocent beautiful creatures.

Ivanhoe said...

We have cardinals up here. Just the red ones though. I have never seen a grey female like that before. Have a great Tuesday :o)

EG CameraGirl said...

She looks like she has attitude...a good thing. ;-)

Maggie Moo said...

I always love that the male birds are considered the "pretty" ones-this is great proof that it's not true! That's a fantastic shot, too.

Celeste said...

Wow I didn't realise that Cardinals had been introduced to Hawaii, you learn something new every day!

Dianne said...

she's a beauty and you captured her perfectly!

2sweetnsaxy said...

Great shot. What an interesting looking bird. Reminds me of how kind of awkward looking a cockatiel looks as an infant.

Anonymous said...

lovely bird!happy RT!

Anonymous said...

Nice pic! Especially how you distinguished her from the camouflage background! Thanks for visiting my blog too!

kml said...

I didn't realize that Hawaii had Cardinals too. We have a couple pairs of them that live year round here in NH. I love to watch them, but I wish they were not so timid - hard to get pics of them.

BNS said...

Thanks to all of my Ruby Tuesday friends for visiting and sharing your thoughts.

@ Jim - You are right about the introduction of 'alien' species. Sometimes it works out fine, and other times it creates a disaster!

@ Mojo - This female's coloring is typical of the cardinals here, but I agree, this individual does look a little scruffy.

@ Michele - Nice to 'see' you here. Hope you continue to feel better.

@ Robin - The male of this species is red.

@ Kathy (KML) - Ours are timid, too. It's hard to capture them with the camera.

Bobbie