324 : Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis

I have heard americans refer to these as "redbirds" and you can see why. They are resident in the Eastern and mid-West but do not seem to have a range that extends to across the Rockies to the West. They are ask resident in Mexico.

The red colour seems to be quite hard for the the camera to cope with in terms of picking out feathers.  They remind me of  Hawfinch in the UK in terms of bill structure, size of head etc. but of course I never have and never will see a Hawfinch because they don't exist !!

Its a while since I was in Florida but I guess something else to report from the trip was my bemused discovery of country music. The only genre where people just drink, have failed relationships and drive around in trucks all day. I am not sure it is my music !

Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis
Orlando Wetland Park, Florida
May 2015