# Why are cardinals (birds) so obvious? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 2, 2010, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cardinals-birds-so-obvious/548930 "2010-08-02T20:39:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cardinals-birds-so-obvious/548930/21 "2010-08-03T05:48:41Z")
Bishop birds are far more noticeable due to their unusual diagonal flight. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cardinals-birds-so-obvious/548930/22 "2010-08-03T12:45:57Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Bishop birds are far more noticeable due to their unusual diagonal flight. I refuse to be a pawn in your silly game. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cardinals-birds-so-obvious/548930/23 "2010-08-03T12:47:26Z")
But they have really nice rookeries. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cardinals-birds-so-obvious/548930/24 "2010-08-03T13:36:54Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > …So let’s looks at cardinals? What eats them? I dunno, but as long as they can outmaneuver whatever eats them it’s fine with evolution… We have the occasional Cooper’s Hawk around here, and I once saw one nail an unsuspecting pigeon, swooping down from behind and killing it, scattering feathers and tearing it apart right then and there. I presume a male cardinal, sitting exposed on a high branch, whistling loud and clear, might be a pretty good target for one of those babies. Also reminds me of a time that I was in a tent one eveing and listening to a whipoorwill calling out in the woods. I heard “whip oor will…whip oor willl…whip oor will…whip oor AWK! AKK! EEEEEE! aah” and then nothing. Sometimes animals advertise their whereabouts to their own demise. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cardinals-birds-so-obvious/548930/25 "2010-08-03T17:13:47Z")
Well, yes, obviously they do occasionally get caught by predators. But a cardinal will get caught by predators much less often than a similarly-colored rodent would (which is probably why there aren’t any similarly-colored rodents). ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cardinals-birds-so-obvious/548930/26 "2010-08-03T17:16:38Z")
Yeah, male cardinals can be pretty aggressive about defending their territory. One evening, a barred owl was in our backyard. I’d have never known it was there except for one pissed-off male cardinal who kept harassing the owl, "CHEEEEP!!"ing away, all through dusk, until it was too dark for him to feel safe anymore. That cardinal raised such a ruckus I finally went outside to see what was going on, and spotted the owl. Still, for my money, there’s nothing funnier than an adolescent male cardinal in half-molt. This time of year, they’re everywhere: gawky, awkward teenagers trying desperately to look more handsome than they really are. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cardinals-birds-so-obvious/548930/27 "2010-08-03T17:22:42Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > …That cardinal raised such a ruckus I finally went outside to see what was going on, and spotted the owl… Ah, yes. We had a thread some time ago here on the topic of how those owls got spotted. Now we know. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cardinals-birds-so-obvious/548930/28 "2010-08-03T17:23:42Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > > [@Colibri](#): > > > > Some other birds that live in the forest canopy, where they are easy to see, are brightly colored but don’t sing very much. > > A good example of this is (at least in my experience growing up) is the [Baltimore Oriole](http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Baltimore_Oriole/). The males are pretty flashy and sing their little hearts out for a few weeks after migrating back to their breeding area, presumably to attract a mate and establish territory. Then it seems like they shut the hell up for the rest of the summer, and you rarely hear them. The Toronto Blue Jay is the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cardinals-birds-so-obvious/548930/29 "2010-08-03T18:50:48Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > One evening, a barred owl was in our backyard. … I finally went outside to see what was going on, and spotted the owl. That’s going to cause confusion, especially if the poor thing has a mate. You should go find it and paint it barred again. ---
**Author:** ![Clark\_Cello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@Clark\_Cello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clark_Cello)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cardinals-birds-so-obvious/548930/30 "2010-08-03T19:45:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Note that birds tend to have much more flamboyant displays than most other male animals: **The closest thing among mammals would probably be something like a deer’s rack** , but that’s functional in addition to decorative. I suspect that this is because flight is just so danged useful: When you can fly and most of your predators can’t, you can afford to make much bigger sacrifices for purposes of attracting a mate. Who cares if everything can see you, if they can’t catch you? A female, however, and the nest she tends, isn’t free to just fly away from danger, so they stay drab and camouflaged. After reading a bunch of posts on sexual traits, I misinterpreted this remark for a second. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cardinals-birds-so-obvious/548930/31 "2010-08-03T20:50:32Z")
As a predator, I’d have to wonder if a bright red bird tasted like cherry or strawberry. Strawberry would be fine but if it was that nasty fake cherry flavor, I’d have to pass. And while pondering all this the cardinal would probably be thinking “ooh, a predator! I’d better hide”. Then I wouldn’t get a chance to find out if it was strawberry or that nasty cherry. Raspberry would have been good, too. It’s easier to just stick with the obviously bird-flavored birds. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cardinals-birds-so-obvious/548930/32 "2010-08-03T21:03:55Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > I believe there are some antelope whose males are more “brightly” colored. Think darker, bolder, stripier, etc. In the open areas they live in, they can usually get away. So similar in principle to birds. There are some that even have a special gait–extra springy and jumpy to show the females and would-be predators how fit they are. “[Stotting](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stotting)” is the term. ---
**Author:** ![Tixenfleaz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9a140/32.png) [@Tixenfleaz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tixenfleaz)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2010, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cardinals-birds-so-obvious/548930/33 "2010-08-05T18:19:14Z")
[quote=“CC, post:24, topic:548930”] > [@Markxxx](#): > > Also reminds me of a time that I was in a tent one eveing and listening to a whipoorwill calling out in the woods. I heard “whip oor will…whip oor willl…whip oor will…whip oor AWK! AKK! EEEEEE! aah” and then nothing. Could be I’m not right, but that sentence just about made me piss myself laughing. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cardinals-birds-so-obvious/548930/34 "2010-08-11T16:44:54Z")
For what it’s worth a red bird against a green background is not very obvious to a colour blind predator. [![](https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p157/Floater_photo/cardinal.jpg) ](https://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p157/Floater_photo/cardinal.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cardinals-birds-so-obvious/548930/35 "2010-08-12T02:38:48Z")
Lots of cardinals and other bright colored birds live around my place, and you hardly ever see anything but the local cat population preying on them. High up in the tree is pretty safe. The occasional hawk or whatever might get them, but their primary predators are on the ground. Flying is all they need. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-cardinals-birds-so-obvious/548930.md?page=1)