I have observed a male cardinal on our bird feeder, feeding a young bird that is not a cardinal. Similar size but not the correct coloring or shape of other young cardinals I have seen being fed by parents. Any explanation or similar sightings? I wasn’t able to get a picture. Thanks. Teresa
20 Comments
Leave a reply
Hi Teresa, Thanks for writing. And for your cool observation. Birds often feed babies that are not their own. The instinct to stuff food in an open mouth is so strong. One theory is that the danger of not feeding one of your own hungry chicks is greater than the risk of feeding someone else’s. At least most of the time. Sometimes, the results are really remarkable. There are any number of photos and videos of birds feeding goldfish and koi, including one at this page of a Northern cardinal feeding goldfish: http://lansingwbu.blogspot.com/2010/05/basic-instinct-cardinal-feeds-goldfish.html. And recently in the news is an amazing story of bald eagles feeding a hawk chick in British Columbia: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2017/06/29/these-bald-eagles-are-feeding-a-baby-hawk-because-parenthood-makes-you-crazy/?utm_term=.26c7f7c47e7b. Tom
I am so happy I found this question answered! I have witnessed this all summer at my feeder. A male cardinal feeding baby sparrows at the feeder. And just yesterday the female cardinal was feeding her female baby too. So cool!
We noticed the same thing near our birdfeeder – a cardinal feeding a sparrow. It was really amazing to see this! Had no idea bird would do this!
at our bird feeder, I have seen the male cardinal feed a bird that is not it’s young, looked more like a sparrow
Was it sort of gray, with streaking on the breast? If so, it might have been a cowbird chick. Tom
Yes. I think so. The size of a sparrow
My male cardinal was putting water from the bloodbath into
What I think was a juvenile housing. Would they do that too ?
Hi Karen, you will need to clarify this for me. I’m guessing bloodbath should be birdbath, but I don’t know what “juvenile housing” means. 🙂 Tom
Sorry, birdbath. It did not look like a juvenile cardinal. Looked more like a juvenile house finch.
Would the Male cardinal do that? Wish my camera had been in my hand. It was so sweet.
OMGoodness! I was reviewing cam we have at one of our feeders and we have an adult male Cardinal feeding what I believe is a juvenile/recently fledged Cowbird. It was so cool to watch!!
I just noticed the same at my feeder; a male cardinal feeding another bird, but not a cardinal. It was brown, I thought maybe a sparrow, but since cowbird was mentioned, I looked up it’s picture and think it could also be that. Since cowbirds lay their eggs in other birds’ nests, could the cardinal think that’s his own? I have video but it was dark and a bit grainy.
Yes, that’s exactly what happens. The parents’ instincts are to feed any baby that is in their nest. That’s how cowbirds and cuckoos in Europe work. They take advantage of the other birds’ parenting instincts. Some birds recognize eggs that aren’t their own, and get rid of them. Other birds recognize chicks that aren’t there own, and kick them out of the nest. But for many birds, it seems that the need for the parents to have a very strong instinct to feed the chicks in their nest overrules the danger of occasionally being tricked by cowbirds and cuckoos. Tom
I saw a cardinal feed a bird that didn’t look like a juvenile. Do Cardinals feed other “adult” birds?
Just this morning I was watching a female cardinal on the fence near our feeder, she was perched next to another bird which was not a cardinal and I kept looking because they were so close together. Then the female cardinal fed this other bird! The other bird then flew up and landed closer to me and it was either a baby or a female bluebird!! So beautiful a thing to have seen. We did have much bluebird activity this spring with an active couple and babies in our yard
I just saw a cardinal feeding an adult sparrow at the feeder. Have never seen this before.
We have a Cardinal nest about three feet from our kitchen window. Imagine our surprise to see a Hummingbird playing Nanny by tending the nest and feeding the chicks while both parents were also present and tending and feeding.
I find it very interesting that not only are both Robin parents, flying in and out to feedvtheir 5 day old chicks in their nest, but for several days a pair of cardinals also appears to be tending to the nestlings!
Jill, Oak Ridge, TN
I live in Asheville, NC and just witnessed a red cardinal feeding a tiny brown bird for a solid 4 minutes. It was the sweetest thing to see! Happy to see that other’s have experienced this wonderful moment as well!
Recently I have seen a male cardinal feed his mate and a begging female brown thrasher almost at the same time.
I am so glad I asked this question. And happy to hear I’m not the only one that’s seeing things! There was a male cardinal feeding a gray bird today about the same size as himself. I knew it wasn’t a cardinal and yet they stayed awhile so I could get a good look. Birds are amazing! Thank You, Lord!