Carolyn Braden: Baby Cardinals

This is the second year we have had a bird family settle into our giant rosebush. It's a great location because it keeps them and their little ones away from predators. After seeing our cardinal family today (the babies left the nest today), it made me do some research. I was concerned when I saw them walking around my yard. I've kept my dogs out of the yard and was wondering how long I was going to have them stay out. I read that the parents try to wean them away from needing to be fed by slowly nudging  them out of the nest. After the female nurtures them in the nest, the male takes over when they leave. Our female and male parents are still both around and still feeding them. It's interesting to see them "train" the babies to fly. From what I read, our family is right on target with what they are supposed to do for their babies.  The male and female will feed them a little and fly away a little causing the baby to try to fly towards them to get fed more. One of the babies is much bigger than the other. They are working more with the bigger one to make it fly and are still trying to nudge the little one to stop sleeping and try to fly. Nature is truly an amazing thing, especially when you see animals taking care of their young like humans do.