The cardinals do show specie-al spirit. I saw six (!) on the porch the other day, happily taking turns knocking all the seed out of the big feeder. They land like a 747 on a bike path and take off at full throttle. The deck under the feeder is constantly covered with seeds. Their cousins the purple finches are not quite as clumsy, and are even more bound to each other.

The sparrows are very tame, unafraid of people or cats. The cats in turn seem to take no interest at all in them, even though the sparrows never show any stealth or wariness.