I just got back from an Arizona road trip.
Got to bird with my brother. Big plus. Went to a niece’s wedding. Another big plus. Saw family. Another big plus. Beautiful country. Plus. Birds everywhere. Warblers,tanagers,night-hawks,woodpeckers,junkos. Tons of birds. Plus.
Pictures? Eah...didn’t do so well. Not even of the wedding. Big Minus.
Or my brother. But we sat on his back porch and took pictures of his bird feeder. Lots of Pine Siskins. That's love in our family. :)
I did get these shots near Sedona of some Arizona Cardinals. (Notice I didn’t say Northern Cardinals.) (See "E-Z-ID Friday" 6/24/14) They are not quite the same. (See "Northern Cardinal" 7/17/14). The AZ version is an isolated subspecies. Really the only one in the western half of the country. Birders know this.
But there are a lot of people who don’t. In Arizona! They don’t even believe it. In fact it causes a big controversy because of the football team. Some people don’t like the team named the Cardinals. They blog endlessly about it. Entertaining. But mostly silly. I’m not sure why they haven’t seen them. That red is hard to miss. Unless it’s because there aren’t as many of them right in phoenix where most people live. They’re not hard core desert rats. The birds I mean. They need a few trees and a little brush.
But they are not uncommon.
Maybe those particular Zoners are just grumpy about having an angry bird as their mascot. Sure it’s not a bear. Or even a Seahawk. But they need to cut the Cardinal a little slack. It’s not a bad symbol. How’s this for example. Arizona Cardinals can have 8 broods in a single season. If one doesn’t work out, they start again. Immediately. There’s just no quit in them. That seems way better than, “Wait till next season.”
Another thing. They say the best clubs play as a team. Well male and female Cardinals stay together year round. They are very familiar with the sounds the other makes. They often feed out in the open. So they need to have each other’s tail. So to speak. They constantly check in with each other by “chitting.” That means it’s all good. Or something.
But all the chitting in the world wouldn’t help without a good defensive scheme. You see, their biggest enemies are Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks. Fast. Deadly. If one is spotted the chit changes to “chet” or whatever “ARhhhhhh!” is in cardinal, and they dart in two different directions to the bushes.
Sort of like a cover 2 defense. You know. Create confusion. Bend but don’t break. Keep your opponent in front of you. Try not to give up a big play through the air.
Rookie AZ Cardinal staying home on defense.
And fierce? Angry bird doesn’t begin to do Arizona Cardinals justice. They’re ferocious protecting their home field. Especially during breeding season. They will attack anything.
Even their own reflection.... Hey! At least they win.
Usually.
Ok Cardinal fans. I admit there’s a bit of a weakness there. But listen.
I said they were persistent. Team players. Defense minded. And ferocious.
I never said they were smart. : )
