Wow she really is huge! I have been keeping my feeders full since our temps are horrific (PA). I feel so bad for the birds and bunnies. I don't know how they survive these temps. The little wrens take cover on my covered porch and stay under my covered patio table. The bunnies visit my feeder area at note and enjoy what's on the ground. I don't have a heated BB but hope to get one next year when I get my small side yard landscaped.

How wonderful , I would definatly send this story and photos to Cornell http://www.nestwatch.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=577 , It would be a great story to put on the Cornell nestwatch site. May even want to send to Birds and Blooms mag, they love these stories and we are talking about an unusual nesting in flowers!! I think you get some kind of compensation if B&B uses your story. www.birdsandblooms.com keep us up dated!

Female baby cardinals don't usually have the crest as fledglings. The males do. The females can easily be mistake for a sparrow as young fledglings (beak and feather pattern can help you tell difference) while the males begin to show orange and red hues pretty early. I've been feeding cardinal nestlings and parents for years now, they bring so much joy and will after time communicate with you. For example, mine are obsessed with blueberries. If I'm out of blueberries and don't put anything out, dad will pretty much "yell" at me now, or if I try to give them grapes or other berries instead he's even more annoyed LOL. And no, I'm not a crazy old bird lady. But birds understand more language than cats. My females are far more skittish, but my daddy cardinal has been with me 3 solid years now and will sit within a foot of me, let me move slowly, and allow me to talk to him. Mama, not so much. ;) As for size, cardinals fledge quite quickly (11 days, incubate for only 13), but remain fully dependent on parents for at least a full 20 days when their flying begins improving. They don't venture far from their parents for weeks afterwards. But by the time they're flying well, they're barely smaller than mom. You likely indeed saw mom feeding baby cardinal. A baby cowbird doesn't resemble a cardinal, though cardinal parents adopt, incubate, feed and fledge them as their own.

Great photo! Cardinals are one of my favs and I enjoy the many in my backyard. They are usually first at the feeders early in the morning and the last to leave for the night. The "couples" are very easy to distinguish in early spring when they are courting. Thanks for sharing your photo and you are certainly not wasting your time, especially with us bird lovers!!!! Donna