Julia G.

1. Ask the Cardinal Natalie C. Julia G.

2. Introduction • Name of animal: Cardinal • Scientific Name of animal: Cardinalis • Vertebrate or Invertebrate: Vertebrate • Class of animal: Aves • Other names of animal: song birds

3. How can I tell it is you when I see a red bird? You can tell it is me because I have big red crescent shaped feathers on my head. I also have black feathers around my eyes and above my beak that looks like a mask. I have an orange cone shaped beak. There are not many birds that look like me.

4. People say you only live in the forest is that true? No I do not live only in the forest. I can be found in gardens, forest, and other woodlands. I am often found in northern America like Canada. In the winter I do not migrate like geese. Migrate means move one place to another well changing seasons. That is were I am found and what I do during different seasons.

5. What would happen if the population of snakes increased? I eat seeds and snakes eat me. If the population of snakes increased us cardinals would decrease because all of the snakes would eat us. If we decreased in our population seeds would increase because not many of us would eat them. I do not want to get extinct.

6. Food Chain

7. How will I know which hard eggs and chicks are yours? You can tell my babies and my hard eggs are different from other birds. My babies are usually born down in shrubs, twigs, and hedges. My eggs are brownish white and in the nest there will be about 3-4 eggs. My babies also look a lot different from other birds chicks. My chicks have pink around their neck. My chicks camouflage so our predators can’t find my chicks. Now you see how my chicks and eggs are different from other birds.

8. What are some of your defensive adaptations? Some defensive adaptations I use are flying at predators, squawking loudly, and I also use camouflage. When I squawk loudly it hurts the predators ears. I use camouflage bye blending in with red flowers. When I defend myself I do not get injured.

9. Where would I usually find you and would I see you at night or day? You would find me in the day time not at night. We mostly live in North America and sometimes in South America. I do not migrate so I would stay in America almost all of the time. You may look out your window and see me in your yard. We are very attractive birds.

10. Can Cardinals be sold as pets? Yes, Cardinals can be sold as pets. Since I do not migrate its easier for people to catch me. People bribe me with worms and other food and then they catch me. Then I am checked if I have any symptoms and put in a cage. Finally I am sold as pets to one of you! Sometimes after you keep me for a while I can’t go back into the wild, because I won’t know how to hunt or protect myself.

11. Works Cited Videos from www.youtube.com or www.arkive.org Merrick, Patrick. Cardinals. New York: The Childs World Inc. 2000. “ Cardinal.” Wildlife and Plants of the World.1999 ed. “ Cardinal.” The World Book Student Discovery Science. 2006 ed. “Northern Cardinal.” 11/27/13 http://www.enature.com “Northern Cardinal” 11/27/13 http://www.exploringnature.org