Roy sings like the porch hired him to announce the morning. Renee hears him from the shrubs and decides whether he has made enough noise for one day.

Roy and Renee are Northern Cardinals. Roy is bright red with a black mask around his orange beak. Renee is warm brown with red on her crest, wings, tail, and face. Both have strong orange beaks, sharp eyes, and little crests that can lift when they feel alert.

Tootie notices Roy first because Roy is hard to miss. One cool morning, Roy lands in the pecan tree above the porch and gives a clear whistle. Tootie’s droopy ears flip forward. He looks up so fast that he nearly bumps into Yoshi.

“Red bird!” Tootie says.

Yoshi’s pointy ears twitch. She watches Roy turn on the branch, bright against the leaves. “That is Roy.”

Tootie looks around. “Where is Renee?”

Grandma points toward the front-yard shrubs. Renee moves through the branches, brown and red and much harder to spot than Roy.

Tootie squints. “I do not see her.”

Grandma smiles. “That is because Renee knows how to blend in when she needs to.”

Renee hops to another twig. Her crest lifts a little, and her orange beak catches the morning light.

Yoshi watches her. “She is pretty.”

Grandma nods. “She surely is.”

Roy whistles again.

Grandma looks toward the pecan tree. “And he is still going.”

Roy and Renee use different parts of Grandma’s yard for different jobs. Roy likes high branches where he can sing, watch the yard, and make sure other cardinals know he is nearby. Renee spends more time in shrubs, low trees, vines, and leafy places where she can find cover.

The front-yard shrubs work especially well for Renee. Grenda stays low in those leaves, where she hunts insects and spiders. Rumpy checks higher branches during cooler weather. Renee uses the middle part of the shrubs, where branches and leaves help hide her from animals that may bother her.

Grandma says the shrubs are a whole neighborhood.

Tootie looks at the leaves. “Does everybody have an apartment?”

“Something like that,” Grandma says. “Renee has a better chance of raising babies where nobody can see straight through the branches.”

During nesting season, Renee builds a cup-shaped nest. She uses twigs, strips of bark, grass, leaves, roots, and other soft plant pieces. She presses the materials together with her feet and beak until the nest becomes a small bowl.

Roy may bring her a twig, a grass stem, or another useful piece of nesting material.

Tootie watches Roy fly toward the shrubs with a little piece of grass in his beak.

“Is he bringing Renee a present?” he asks.

Grandma nods. “He may be helping with the nest.”

Yoshi watches Roy disappear into the leaves. “He brings grass.”

Grandma says, “Every family has their own love language.”

Tootie thinks for a moment. “Mine is treats.”

Grandma says, “That has been obvious since breakfast.”

Roy and Renee both began as tiny baby cardinals in nests hidden in thick shrubs or low tree branches. Their mothers built cup-shaped nests from twigs, grass, leaves, bark, and soft plant pieces. When Roy and Renee were eggs, their mothers spent most of the time keeping them warm while their fathers brought food and watched for danger.

When they hatched, Roy and Renee had very little fluff and no feathers strong enough for flying. They stayed in the nest with their brothers and sisters, opening their mouths wide whenever a parent came back with food. Their parents brought small insects because growing baby birds need protein to build feathers, muscles, and wings.

Baby cardinals do not look much like their parents at first. Young male and female cardinals can both look brownish, with streaky feathers and darker beaks. Their feathers grow in slowly. Their wings get stronger. Their feet learn how to grip branches without slipping.

Soon, Roy and Renee left their nests as fledglings. A fledgling is a young bird that has left the nest but still needs help. Their parents kept feeding them while they learned where seeds grow, how to find insects, where to hide from hawks, and how to land on a branch without tumbling into the leaves.

Tootie thinks learning to fly sounds exciting.

Yoshi thinks they sounds like a lot of falling before you get good at they.

Grandma says, “That is true for birds, puppies, and most people.”

As Roy and Renee grew into adults, their colors became clearer. Roy’s feathers turned bright red. Renee’s feathers stayed warm brown with red touches. Both grew their little crests, their orange beaks, and the sharp eyes they use to watch the yard.

Roy and Renee work together when they are time to raise babies. Renee does most of the nest building and spends the most time keeping the eggs warm. Roy stays nearby, sings, watches for danger, and brings food.

Their eggs are small and pale with tiny brown, purple, or gray marks. Renee sits quietly in the nest while the babies grow inside the eggs. Her brown feathers help her blend into branches, leaves, and shadows while she waits.

Tootie asks, “Why does Roy not sit on the eggs as much?”

Grandma looks toward the shrubs. “Renee has the main egg-warming shift. Roy helps in other ways. Families divide up the work differently.”

Yoshi nods. “Roy gets groceries.”

“Roy gets groceries,” Grandma says. “And he keeps singing, which may or may not count as useful depending on who you ask.”

Roy whistles from the pecan tree.

Grandma looks up. “He has heard the complaint.”

When the babies hatch, both Roy and Renee bring food to the nest. The young birds grow quickly, but they still need help after they leave the nest. Roy may feed the fledglings while Renee starts working on another nest.

Grandma says, “They have a full schedule.”

Tootie looks toward the shrubs. “Do the babies get names?”

Grandma says, “Probably not Rumpadumpalous.”

From the pecan tree, Roy whistles.

Tootie decides that sounds like agreement.

Roy and Renee eat seeds, berries, fruit, and insects. Their thick orange beaks work well for cracking hard seeds. They may eat sunflower seeds, seeds from grasses and flowers, berries from shrubs, and bits of fruit that grow or fall around the yard.

In spring and summer, insects become especially important. Roy and Renee hunt caterpillars, beetles, grasshoppers, spiders, and other small bugs to feed their babies. Young birds need protein to grow strong feathers, muscles, and wings.

Renee may search leaves and stems for insects near the shrubs. Roy may look under the pecan trees, visit a feeder, or pick seeds from the ground. Both birds may stop at Grandma’s birdbath for a drink.

One morning, Tootie watches Roy crack a sunflower seed.

“He has a tiny nutcracker face,” Tootie says.

Grandma laughs. “That is not wrong. Cardinals have strong beaks for seeds.”

Renee picks up a berry from the shrub and swallows they whole.

Yoshi watches her. “Did she eat the seed too?”

“Usually,” Grandma says. “Birds can carry seeds to new places after they eat berries. Sometimes a forgotten seed gets the chance to grow.”

Tootie nods. “So Roy and Renee are accidental gardeners too.”

Grandma looks toward the shrubs. “This yard has more of those than you might think.”

Roy sings from high places. He may whistle from the pecan trees, the top of a shrub, or a branch near the porch. His song can sound clear and repeated, with several notes in a row.

Tootie hears Roy before he sees him on many mornings.

“Roy is awake,” Tootie says.

Grandma pours coffee. “Roy has been awake for a while. He just wants everybody else to know.”

Yoshi’s ears twitch toward the pecan tree. “Why does he sing so much?”

Grandma says, “He may be talking to Renee, telling other cardinals where he is, or saying this is part of his space.”

Roy whistles again.

Grandma nods. “And sometimes he may just enjoy hearing himself.”

Tootie thinks that sounds like Kevin.

Yoshi thinks that sounds like Biv.

Grandma says, “You are both learning a lot about birds.”

Renee sings too, though people often notice Roy first because he is so bright and loud. Renee may call from the shrubs, answer Roy, or make sounds that help the pair stay in touch.

Tootie listens closely one morning.

“Was that Renee?”

Grandma smiles. “They sure was.”

Tootie looks pleased. “She has a song too.”

“Every bird has something to say,” Grandma says. “Some just say they from a quieter branch.”

Roy’s bright red feathers make him easy to spot from far away. He has red across most of his body, a black face around his beak, and a tall crest that can lift when he feels alert.

Renee looks different. Her body is mostly soft brown, with red on her crest, wings, tail, and face. Her colors help her blend into shrubs and branches while she sits near a nest.

Tootie thinks Roy and Renee should match.

“Why is Roy red and Renee brown?”

Grandma looks at the two birds. “They are the same kind of bird, but male and female cardinals have different colors. Renee’s colors help her stay harder to see when she needs to hide in the nest.”

Yoshi watches Renee move through the shrubs. “She looks like leaves and branches.”

Grandma nods. “That is part of the idea.”

Tootie watches Roy land near the porch.

“And Roy looks like a red crayon.”

Grandma says, “That is also part of the idea.”

Roy lifts his crest.

Tootie whispers, “He knows he is pretty.”

Yoshi’s ears twitch.

Grandma says, “Most cardinals do.”

Roy and Renee know the backyard crew. They know Grandma fills the birdbath with clean water. They know Tootie gets excited when birds land low in the yard. They know Yoshi watches first, then decides whether anything matters.

They know Biv may fuss over pecans. They know Kevin watches other animals for food. They know Wilson stays busy on tree trunks. They know Scott and Phoenix can make a seed pile disappear in a hurry.

One morning, Renee lands near the flower bed. Tootie takes one step toward her.

Yoshi’s ears twitch.

Grandma says, “Leave they.”

Tootie stops.

Renee freezes for a moment, then flies into the shrubs.

Tootie sits down. “She did not want to be friends.”

Grandma scratches behind one of his droopy ears. “Renee has cardinal work. She has food to find, babies to watch, and Roy to keep from holding a concert before breakfast.”

Roy whistles from the tree.

Yoshi looks up. “Too late.”

Grandma laughs.

Roy and Renee need shrubs, trees, clean water, and food. Native shrubs can grow berries and give birds safe places to hide. Flowers and garden plants bring insects, which cardinals use to feed their babies. Bird feeders with sunflower seeds can help too, especially when people keep the feeders clean.

A birdbath can give cardinals water to drink and bathe in. Keep they clean and put they where birds can see around them.

Cats can be dangerous for birds, especially birds feeding near the ground or shrubs. Keeping cats indoors helps cardinals and other backyard birds stay safer.

Grandma says, “Roy can sing all he wants. He still needs a safe place to land.”

Tootie thinks that is fair.

Yoshi looks at the shrubs. “Renee needs a safe place too.”

Grandma nods. “Exactly.”