A survivor of the winter storm

By Aaron Horrell

I was able to capture this male cardinal at about 4:30 p.m. last Saturday, January 19. It had been raining most of the day and as temperatures began to fall into the low 30s, sleet and snow began to fall.

You can see in my photo that the wind was blowing hard, making it difficult for this cardinal to sit still. The wind coming from his left was catching his wing and blowing up the feathers on the back of his head. My fingers were very cold as I photographed him.

I wondered how such a small bird could have the ability to survive such harsh conditions. Why would his tiny feet not freeze as he sat on the top of an old wooden gate with snow on it? It seems that he would have too little body heat to keep his tiny heart warm and beating.

I would feel sorry for this little bird, if I did not know that nature has given him everything he needs to live through our Southeast Missouri winters. He is a beautiful bird who roosts among the small limbs of bushes at night every day of his life. Cardinals will come to your bird feeder and eat sunflower seeds. They will especially benefit from seeds people provide when snow covers the ground. Nature is awesome.