Seed Eaters

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Northern Cardinal

• Cardinals were once popular cage birds for their bright color and rich, varied songs
• Cardinals learn their songs, and as a result the songs vary regionally
• Northern Cardinal's diet consists mainly (up to 90 percent) of weed seeds, grains, and fruits
• This is the state bird of North Carolina and Virginia.

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

• The nest of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak is so thinly constructed that eggs often can be seen from below through the nest.
• The male Rose-breasted Grosbeak participates in incubation of the eggs, accounting for about 1/3 of the time during the day (the female incubates over night).
• They eat insects, seeds, fruits, and buds

Blue Grosbeak

• Large bill can handle large seeds, including corn, and insects such as mantids and grasshoppers
• Compact cup made of twigs, bark, rootlets, and other fibers and strips of material, placed low in shrubs or small trees
• They have pale blue eggs

Indigo Bunting

• The Indigo Bunting migrates at night, using the stars for guidance. It learns its orientation to the night sky from its experience as a young bird observing the stars
• The sequences of notes in Indigo Bunting songs are unique to local neighborhoods
• Experienced adult Indigo Buntings can return to their previous breeding sites when held captive during the winter and released far from their normal wintering area

Eastern Towhee

• Nests on ground at base of upright vegetation or in vine tangle or shrub
• They mainly eat insects, acorns, seeds and berries
• Populations declining, most severe in New England

American Goldfinch

• The American Goldfinch is one of the latest nesting birds. It usually does not start until late June or early July, when most other songbirds are finishing with breeding
• The bird eats mostly grain, but will eat insects in order to provide young chicks with protein
• The American Goldfinch changes from winter plumage to breeding plumage by a complete molt of its body feathers. It is the only member of its family to have this second molt in the spring