Even on a steamy August day, my spirit animal sings.
Richee-ear. Richee-ear. Rit. Rit. Rit. Rit. Birdy. Birdy. Birdy. Cheer. Cheer. Cheer.
The northern cardinal’s varied melodic notes shine like a beacon through the humidity as well as difficult days. These notes remind me of the power of resiliency and that there’s always something to sing about.
Some hardcore birders likely don’t take the time to look at the male cardinal’s bright red plumage and fancy crest, or pause to hear its music.
They’ve seen and heard it so many times before. They are on a quest for rarer avian species.
I, too, love seeing and hearing rare bird species. But when it comes to the cardinal, I become more spiritual, less on a quest, more on a path to relish the joy of hearing this songbird tell its story.
Many songbirds only sing to court and raise a family. In the heat of August, robins mostly stop singing. Songbirds winging their way back from the north to southern locales only give calls and chips this time of year. Occasionally a pewee will call its lonesome two-syllable song before heading north, and American goldfinches say, “potatochip” while flying overhead.
But nearly year-round, I have heard a cardinal sing in northern Illinois.
Are these singing cardinals still tending to a nest and raising young in August? Perhaps their first nest failed. Perhaps they are teaching their young to sing. None of us can say for certain exactly what a bird is saying when it’s singing and why it chooses a particular time to belt out its tune.
Even when the cicadas are droning nonstop in the middle of a hot day, a cardinal has interjected its song at just the right moment so I can hear it. More likely, so another cardinal can hear it.
Cardinals stop singing for a bit in autumn, but on the coldest day in January or February, they’re back at it – offering melodies to welcome spring even as snow is falling.
Cardinals represent an anomaly in the bird world. Both male and female sing. (A nod to equality?) The female is brown with red tinges on the wings, tail and crest, but I’ve rarely seen a female sing, and have watched a male sing from the top of a tree.
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Sometimes, they repeat one another’s songs. University of Illinois researcher and ornithologist David Enstrom has recorded at least 30 different sounds or syllables that male cardinals use to produce song. Females make about 24 distinct syllables. Some are unique to each gender, but others are given by both sexes.
That’s what’s so great about listening to cardinals sing at different times of the year. They change patterns, sing certain syllables slowly one time, faster the next time. It’s a feast for the ears, especially for a musician like me.
A century ago, someone living in northern Illinois would likely have never heard or seen a cardinal here. Its historic range was in the southeastern United States and parts of Mexico. Since then, the species expanded northward and can be found even in southern Canada today.
Cardinals, which eat various foods such as seeds, berries and insects, found meals and nesting spaces in agricultural fields as well as in urban and suburban yards. They also discovered plentiful sunflower seeds at backyard feeders, which helped them survive winter.
I hear cardinals sing more often than I see them, but if the bright red male appears, folklore says it represents a deceased loved one. My sister sees a male cardinal and thinks of our father, musing that perhaps he is sending a message. My friend sees a male cardinal and thinks of her mother who loved that particular species.
Seeing cardinals also points to romance, according to many different cultures. Single folks who see a cardinal may be meeting a future partner soon. Married folks who spot the red bird are being reminded of the spark they felt when they first met their spouse.
In February, when cardinals begin to re-establish their relationship with their partners, they engage in courtship feeding. I’ve often watched a male and female cardinal sitting together on a feeder, one offering the other a sunflower seed.
Some believe cardinals appear to remind humans that their troubles will soon be over, saying when a cardinal is near, angels appear.
Wading through the science and the legends regarding the northern cardinal is fun, but what engenders the most joy is sitting on a deck in my backyard in the stillness of the morning and waiting for my spirit animal to sing. It almost always does.
Sheryl DeVore has worked as a full-time and freelance reporter, editor and photographer for the baiduhai and its subsidiaries. She’s the author of several books on nature and the environment, and co-author of a coming book on “Birds of the Midwest,” to be published by Timber Press in 2027. Send story ideas and thoughts to [email protected].