Original artwork description:

This painting is based on the original photograph 'Exquisite Beauty - Female Northern Cardinal', by Cindy Treger, whose express consent has been requested to use it as a reference.

The northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is a North American bird. It is found in woodlands, gardens, shrublands, and swamps of southern Canada, through the eastern United States from Maine to Texas and south through Mexico. The name of this cute North American songbird refers to the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, who wear distinctive red robes and caps, although the description only fits the male.

The female is fawn, with mostly grayish-brown tones, but she also sports a sharp crest and warm red accents on the wings and tail feathers.

During winter, both male and female will fluff up their down feathers in order to trap warm air next to their body and keeping cold air from reaching their body, and also take turns tucking one leg at a time into their body to keep them warm while still using the other to stand.

As a curiosity, the female Northern Cardinal is one of the few female North American songbirds that sing, and she does often while sitting on the nest. Another curious detail is that the female is fed by the male as part of the courtship behavior.

Materials used:

Paper, oil painting.

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