Toad Tuesday

I have a pair of these in my yard.

My favorite bird.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cardinals
Male northern cardinal
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Superfamily:	Passeroidea
Family:	Cardinalidae Ridgway, 1901
Genera
Periporphyrus Caryothraustes Rhodothraupis Cardinalis Cyanocompsa Passerina Pheucticus Spiza

Cardinals, in the family Cardinalidae, are passerine birds found in North and South America. They are also known as cardinal-grosbeaks and cardinal-buntings. The South American cardinals in the genus Paroaria are placed in another family, the Thraupidae.

Contents

  [hide] 

• 1Biology
  • 1.1Human benefits
• 2Species list
• 3References
• 4External links

Biology 

They are robust, seed-eating birds with strong bills. The family's smallest member is the 12-cm (4.7-in), 11.5-g (0.40-oz) orange-breasted bunting. They are typically associated with open woodland. The sexes usually have distinctive appearances. The northern cardinal type species was named by colonists for the male's red crest, reminiscent of a Catholic cardinal's biretta.^[1]

The "North American buntings" are known as such to distinguish them from buntings of the Old World family Emberizidae. The name "cardinal-grosbeak" can also apply to the cardinalid family as a whole.

Most species are rated by the IUCN as being of least concern, though some are near threatened.^[2]

Human benefits[edit]

A study conducted in 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia, on West Nile virus (WNV) transmission in the United States, found that unlike other species, cardinals biologically suppress the disease upon infection.^[3]