A Cardinal Achievement~

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, TRAVEL REVIEWS, Wild Life

Some of you may remember that I have only seen and photographed cardinals twice in my life, once in Buenos Aires, and recently in The Superstition Mountains in Arizona. (Tap to enlarge).

Meet Hawaiian Red Crested cardinals number 3 & 4 who have now become my very good friends!

Yep, we are in Hawaii and these guys hang out constantly in our backyard.

I am in cardinal heaven!

They are not afraid of us and especially,

enjoy joining us on the patio table for lunch!

After years of searching,

I have finally made some cardinal friends!

I hope word spreads and they bring over their buddies. We are hosting a variety of exotic and beautiful Hawaiian birds.

I will share more with you soon,

Until then, Aloha to you from Maui~

226 thoughts on “A Cardinal Achievement~”

  15. How awesome. Beautiful friends. I am trying to befriend crows that like our yard. They visit at dawn and sit on the posts and trees. I talk to them and they caw back, so I try to respond in kind. By their reactions, I can tell I’m probably saying something ridiculous in crow. ^^ So Maui! So much beauty there. Thanks for sharing some of it. ♥.

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  17. oh how different in colouring they are from the cardinals that live in my front yard.. delightful, mine are not overly social, they like to have the feeders to themselves.. not much for hanging around with the rest of the “regulars” bur I have both male and female.. this year I got to see them raise their young, well kind of.. here the male is the colourful one.. but i still love the look of the female..

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    1. I love the more subtle female colorations too. They are lovely. You are so lucky to have them nesting nearby. I would so love this! The Hawaiian versions are so friendly. They have the aloha spirit I guess! დ

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  18. Wow! Hawaii really has some interesting varieties of birds. Since moving to Ohio two years ago, cardinals are familiar visitors to our back yard and really stand out in the winter snow.

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  21. They are beautiful! We have one Cardinal family in our backyard. They wake us up in the morning by their beautiful morning songs. However, local Cardinals have different colour of feathers. Male is totally coral and Female is grey with strong accent of coral inside.
    Enjoy your vacation, Cindy!

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  26. Your wish is the Universe’s command lol
    These are beautiful birds and we do t get these in England. How large are they? Love their colouring. And the look inquisitive and friendly.
    ENJOY.💕💖💕

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  27. Anonymous

    You do get around. That’s a very unusual looking cardinal. I went back to your post from the Superstition Mountains and somehow it didn’t fully register. I guess it was because I was still moving into my little abode in the White Mountains of AZ. 😉 The closest I’ve ever been to the Superstition Mountains was the mall in Phoenix. 🙂 No cardinals there. Enjoy Hawaii.

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    1. Until that time, I had never seen a Cardinal in Arizona, even though they are the state bird. But I am seeing and spending time with these Hawaiian guys and they are adorable დ

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  33. I have never seen that type of cardinal! Wowzers and beautiful pictures! Looking forward to what next you bring us during your Hawaiian escapade!

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  35. Enjoy your new friends and other Hawaiian treasures Cindy. These are a very pretty cardinal. We have the more common variety in Arkansas and Virginia where I grew up. They are very fun and friendly. 😍

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  42. Parallel evolution or early dispersion of the prehistoric species?
    There are/used to be lots of unique native birds on Hawaii if I remember right. How in the hell did they get there, originally, I wonder. Blown off course from 3000 mile storms?

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    1. They were introduced to the islands in the 1930’s. There are actually three introduced species that thrive here, The Red Crested, The Northern, and The Yellow Billed. I don’t know if the introduction was purposeful or accidental. It is amazing, like Ring Necked Parakeets thriving in London დ

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  47. Pingback: A Cardinal Achievement~ — (a new treat from Cindy…enjoy) | Rethinking Life

  48. Lucky you, Cindy — being in Hawaii! That’s on my Bucket List for one day. I’ve never heard of these Cardinals. Our Cardinals are brilliant red … all over. Except the females, of course, which are kind of a dull reddish brown. Golly, they’re so common here, but since you’re having trouble finding some to photograph, maybe I should snap a few photos of them just for you??

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    1. They are quite different aren’t they. That is so nice of you Debbie. Thank you. The fun is in the finding. The harder to find, the greater the pleasure. I’d love to see your photos of your cardinals though and I am sure others would too დ

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  65. So lovely, Cindy. We don’t have Cardinals In California and I love seeing them each year when we spend time on Maui! I have researched them a little and they originally were brought to Hawaii from South America.

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    1. Yes, three species of cardinals were introduced from South America in the early 1900’s and are still here, The Nothern, The Yellow Billed, and the Red Crested. I originally saw the Red Crested in Buenos Aires which shocked me. I next saw it this year in Arizona which surprised me. Now I have cardinal friends on the table in Maui which thrills me. Life is good if your a cardinal! დ

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  68. Thank you for sharing Cindy and Charles! What a colourful treat and how very fortunate to see and photograph those colourful creatures up so close and personal! Such a treat.

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    1. Yes! I saw so much of the amazing wild birds and wildlife of incredible Brazil when we went up The Amazon. The first Cardinal I ever saw was in Buenos Aires. The second, years later in Arizona. Both were native to South America, and were Red Crested Cardinals. Now I have two Red Crested Cardinals that are my friends here in Maui where they have adapted and are doing very well. Life is good for these sweet birdies დ

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    1. Awww. Thank you so much. I am not seeing your blog posts and I miss you? It could be WP deleting followers. How are you? I have been thinking about you and missing your posts. დ

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  83. We live on Cardinal Drive in West Columbia, South Carolina – and I think our “cardinals” in the back yard must really be red birds after your Hawaii Cardinals!! Just gorgeous – have a fabulous time!

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  85. That is a nice looking Cardinal you have hanging out in your backyard, and Capture some stunningly beautiful photographs of it, just beautiful.

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    1. I saw my first one in a park in Buenos Aires. I didn’t know they were native there. It was immediately identifiable to me as a cardinal. Looked distinctly cardinalish! 😉 Woodpeckers are bigger birds დ

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      1. It was the tuft of red that made me think of woodpeckers, and yes they are much bigger. We’re lucky to have red cardinals here. The full red against winter snow is especially beautiful.

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  91. They are beautiful Cindy and what a privilege to have developed such a wonderful connection with them. I think our own garden birds and their antics have been such a boost over the last two or three years particularly and I am envious… and the fact you are in Hawaii… love the Islands and we are way overdue another visit. ♥♥

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    1. You are so lucky to have them in your garden Sally. I hope you visit Hawaii soon Sally. It will be better in the fall and winter, than mid-summer, with the attendant crowds and prices დ

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    1. I must admit they make the very best friends, and they love to come into the house unannounced, which is not annoying at all, as it might be with human visitors! 😉 😉

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