Sitting on the seed tray of the backyard birdfeeder was a bright yellow bird the size and shape of a big male cardinal. Short orange beak, black eye-mask markings, chowing down on sunflower seeds ...

She’s cut off from the world and in mourning, with occasional cardinal-red splashes appearing in drapes and a painting of the bird. A bit of Mother Earth trippiness emerges at the end ...

This bird, called the Northern Cardinal, is North Carolina’s state bird (six other states also claim the Northern Cardinal). The News & Observer dug in to see why this bird has become so ...