The amateur ornithologist on the foot
So I know those male cardinals sit up in the trees and sing out their wildly aggressive and thrusting "twee-twee-twee-chuk-chuk-chuk-chuk" - with the number of repetitions of those sounds somewhat arbitrary (maybe less so were I careful studying).So I am wandering this morning in Ashbridge's Bay and I see a male cardinal in some branches and his not doing the call above but rather "tsk-tsk-tsk". And I think, what is different?
I then notice a neighboring tree contains a cardinal making the same sound but the light does not allow me to see it as other than a shadow. So I develop the lovely fantasy that they are finally settling down to finding mates, and that this other cardinal is a female. At which point it flies down to a branch beside the original male, proves to be a male, and increases the call intensity. At which point a physical tussle ensues, joined shortly by a third male also going "tsk-tsk-tsk", while in the background marginally more distant cardinals are still doing the "twee-twee-twee-chuk-chuk-chuk-chuk". It is a battleground!
The kerfuffle becomes untrackable so I move on past the usual swans and buffleheads, among the cormorants, and around out to the lake where the few oldsqaws are still sitting. I feel sorry for most of the cardinals but what can I do?
Much later in the walk, in a significantly less contested part of the park, I find this fellow below, flitting about and displaying (have you ever seen a redder cardinal?) - he seems to feel no need to call at all. Perhaps a very slick beta male, deciding not to fight for prime real estate. We shall see- but is he not a beauty?!
Labels: Ashbridge's Bay cardinal swan
posted by Alan Adamson @ 5:56 PM
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