CARDINAL RESEARCH

INTRODUCTION

We were trying to find out how cardinals get their color. Our group did not know much about cardinals before we studied them. We found that cardinals are very fascinating. This is about our research.

QUESTIONS WE ATTEMPTED IN OUR RESEARCH

These are sdme of the questions we attempted in our research. What do they eat? Where do they live? What do they do? How do they live? Are there any more interesting facts about cardinals? Those are some of the questions we tried to answer in our research.

SOME METHODS WE USED TO FIND THE ANSWERS TO OUR QUESTIONS

One method we used to find out how cardinals get their color was by going on the Internet. We looked in books, too. Also, we observed cardinals outside. These are the methods we used to find out the answers to our questions

OUR CONCLUSIONS

We learned a lot about cardinals in our research. We learned that they eat insects, fruit, seeds and grain. Cardinals are found in many areas of the United States. They are

found mostly in southern Arizona and east to southwestern Texas. Both sexes sing almost year round. Cardinals are medium sized birds. The males are bright red all over, and the females and baby birds are brown, with just a little red. They are usually calm birds, but they will fight to defend their territory.

Our hypothesis is that female cardinals get their color from the color of the food they eat. We came up with this hypothesis because scientists have discovered that some other birds get their color from the foods they eat. We thought that since cardinals eat fruit, this might affect their reddish appearance.

From our research we were unable to find out how cardinals get their color exactly. There has not yet been a scientist who has studied this from what we know. However, we found that cardinals were interesting birds to watch and to study.

RESEARCHERS FOR THIS PROJECT

KRIS RALPH DANNY

ARBUTUS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL ARBUTUS, MARYLAND