And a post script!
It is now 6:25AM Central time and I am on my second cup of coffee. The male and female cardinals have had their breakfast and a juvenile cardinal is now eating. My guess is that since it came right after the female, this is one of their juveniles. If you see it on the platform feeder, you will be able to immediately recognize it is a juvenile because its red feathers are rather mottled with gray and are messy – disheveled. The crows and jays are still sleeping!
Cardinals most often mate for life, are monogamous, and the mated pairs stay together all year round. Not all songbirds who mate for life are as close as cardinal pairs – they are rarely out of sight of each other. They also do not migrate, so once a mated pair is living in your neighborhood or favorite park, they should remain there for as long as they live.
If you are taking a walk on a cold winter day and hear what sounds like sharp, staccato, and fairly loud ‘chips’ coming from within and around large shrubs or trees, stop and take a good look for those red feathers. You could be hearing cardinals – mated pairs keeping in touch with each other. Always makes me smile!