San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Cardinals shine with character and symbolism in San Antonio
Named after cardinals of Catholic Church, these birds are many peoples’ favorite
“They always seem to appear when I have been thinking of my grandpa who passed,” said San Antonian Jennifer Cecelia Flores, a communications manager for IDEA Public Schools.
Deya Palmero, a luxury travel adviser in San Antonio, recalled seeing her first cardinal in the wild back in February 2011, during one of the city’s rare snowfalls. The greeting card image came during what she called a difficult time, much like what the entire world is going through right now with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It made me feel that God was speaking with me, and this too shall pass,” Palmero said.
Inglet does not know how or when cardinals first were associated with good fortune and the afterlife. Perhaps
it’s in the bird’s namesake. After all, the cardinals of the Catholic Church do represent the pope and the Catholic faith across the world as their chief emissaries.
The most popular state bird in the nation. The northern cardinal sure made its mark just south of the Great Lakes. The cardinal is the state bird of seven states, the most of any species. Those states are Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.
The spirit of St. Louis pro sports. For nearly 30 years, St. Louis, Mo., was home to both a professional baseball team and a professional football team named the St. Louis Cardinals.
The baseball birds have been around since 1900 and have 11 World Series titles to their name. The “Football Cardinals” played for St. Louis from 1960 until 1987, then migrated to Arizona to become the Phoenix Cardinals in 1988 and then the Arizona Cardinals in 1994.
San Antonio’s cardinal mascots. In the Alamo City, the redbird represents the University of the Incarnate Word and the Southside Independent School District. But it’s an especially personal mascot to San Antonio baker Ande McBay.
McBay’s grandmother Shug Yagel McBay often painted portraiture but started out painting cardinals in watercolors. The cardinal imagery inspired the younger McBay in 2016 to launch Redbird & Thyme, a private bakery business with redbirds on all the catering equipment.
“It’s my little way of staying close to my grandmother,” she said.
A real angry bird. Cardinals are fiercely territorial and will attack their own kind, even their own reflection. No wonder the most iconic avian in “Angry Birds” is Red the cardinal.
Inglet also warned that a cardinal’s beak is so strong it can break a cherry stone. “It brings a grown man to his knees,” she said. “They are not defenseless.”
Cardinals share “kisses” and parenting duties. Male cardinals feed females beakto-beak as part of their courtship, which looks an awful lot like K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Male and female cardinals also both sing, something most female birds don’t do.
And redbird couples tend to stick together.
“Usually when you see a male cardinal there’s a female cardinal around as well,” Palmero said. “Me being in travel and loving travel, I love the idea of the two of them out on adventures all the time.”
Male and female cardinals both take care of their babies, too, Inglet said, with the mother usually protecting the young in the day while the father takes over at night.
From stud to dud and back again. When a male cardinal is bright red it means he’s healthy and ready to mate, Inglet said. But after breeding season, males often will molt so many feathers that they go completely bald. The feathers do grow back.
Keep them around with sunflower seeds. Inglet said the best way to bring cardinals back to your neck of the woods is with a bird feeder full of black oil sunflower seeds. Provide water, too, and keep predators away.
Chances are you’ll see that cardinal around for quite awhile. Inglet said the typical cardinal lifespan is three to five years, though some can live up to 15 years.
“I think all of these things together kind of make it a shoo-in for favorite bird for a lot of people,” Inglet said.