Cardinal Stake

The one bird everybody knows on sight.

You do not have to be a birdwatcher to know a cardinal. A child can name one. They come to the feeder in the dead of winter, against a gray hedge and old snow, and there is nothing else in the yard that color.

We had this one cut in steel because a cardinal is worth looking at in February, and because a great many people tell us the bird means something more particular than that.

Cardinals do not migrate. They are here in January the same as they are in June, which is part of why they turn up so often in the stories people tell about the ones they have lost. We will not tell you what to make of that. We only know it is the bird we are asked about most, and usually quietly.

They are also worth watching on their own terms. The female sings, which is uncommon among songbirds, and often sings back to the male from the nest. Both parents feed the young. A pair will hold the same patch of hedge and brush for years.

Set it where you will see it from a window in winter. That is when you will want it.

Specifications