Catching Up with Our Cardinals

Some of you may remember the story of the Northern Cardinals which nested by our house this summer.  Click here if you don't, because that story comes before this one.  

Two babies fledged from the nest on July 5th.  So, when I started seeing a female Cardinal feeding two immature ones near our bird feeders on October 3rd, I was quite interested.  Could these possibly be the same birds that were in the nest just outside our window in June? 

I really don't know.  I mean, I've heard of human 'helicopter parents' but Cardinals? (If anyone happens to read this who knows how long Cardinals take care of their babies, please comment!)

Anyway, I have no way of knowing if these are the same birds or a later brood, but I enjoyed watching them so I thought I'd share.

Here they are... in the rain, on October 3rd.  The 'baby' on the right was fluttering its wings for all it was worth, making sure its mother knew it was hungry!

 She was diligently feeding it.

The other young one was nearby, too.  Seriously, the 'babies' were both big enough to feed themselves.

Mama is in the back, notice she has a red bill.  The youngsters both have dark grey bills.  Their bills will get red as they get older. 

Here's the family on October 5th:

She was still feeding them.  (At least it wasn't raining!)

They posed for portraits again for me on October 8th:

 As you can see, they are a close-knit family.  (Well, except for Papa, who is probably around somewhere, too).

The mother was still feeding them on October 9th, when I shot this video:

But, finally, by the 17th, they seemed to be on-their-own.

At least, eating on-their-own... Mama was still close by!

 You did a very good job taking care of your babies Mama!