However I had to resort to the snow photo above because the one I had taken the other day does not shot his 'top hat' to perfection.
Plus if you enlarge it, you will see that he is losing some of his feathers. But he is still a gorgeous bird, no matter what.********************
Before I left home, in the winter we always fed the birds. No, we didn't buy birdseed. I am not even sure if I had ever seen birdseed to buy. And I for sure didn't know anyone that did.
We took a milk jug and cut windows in the sides, leaving the bottom at least two or three inches deep, and would use a string to tie the handle to this trellis mom had at the end of the porch....plus someone, not me, would make some kind of flat 'tray' to nail to the top of a fence post.
We would crumble up leftover cornbread as the main food, and I know we used other stuff but I cannot remember what else unless it was corn. And the birds would just flock to both....there would be cardinals in abundance. I can remember seeing 9 or 10 male cardinals at the same time. Plus there would be different sparrows, chickadees, tufted titmice, and probably wrens, though in all honesty I can't think for sure. But being that they were there all the other time, they just about had to be there then. Mom would also save leftover fats and make a suet for them...
Then come spring/early summer, when we were no longer feeding them...the cardinal would suddenly appear on the fence post, flitting his tail and almost like he was scolding us. We took that as a sign he wanted food for babies...so I would crumble a little cornbread on the post. Here he would come, grab a piece and take off back to the cedar thicket. We never tried to follow, so did not know for sure if they did have babies, but always felt like they did.
