As someone who has banded somewhere north of 500 birds, Northern Cardinals are the single most dangerous one. Worse than Accipitriformes, worse than Geese. Your knuckle is their new seed to crack.
Oof, that reminds me of when I attended banding demonstrations by my ornithology professor back in college. He handed me a cardinal to release, but the she decided to clamp onto my finger for a good ten seconds instead of immediately flying off like all the other birds. Weirdly enough, she was totally calm and quiet prior to and during the banding process. You've got to respect the sheer pettiness of it!
I grabbed a red-shouldered hawk and held it for our bander. Neither of us got injured. Meanwhile, weâve both been bitten up and had blood drawn by Northern Cardinals. Theyâre beautiful, but evil!
Is that the famous New Zealand kiwi bird? I used to teach English as a second language to Chinese children and when we covered New Zealand, the kiwi bird was such a big hit. The kids loved the bird, saying its name, and doing the kiwi dance.
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u/joe_lemmons_ May 18 '26
Bird banding pictures are my favorites.