Red Winged Blackbird Eggs: Blue Green With Brown Black or Purple Marks

Summary: Red Winged Blackbird is a New World songbird liking such wetland flora as cattails and willows. Dark spots mark the large end of their pale blue green eggs.

Female Red-Winged Blackbird in Bluffer's Park, Toronto, Ontario, Central Canada: Mdf, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Agelaius phoeniceus is a New World passerine (Latin: passerinus, "of a sparrow"), or perching, bird native to North and Central America. The soniferous (Latin: sonus, "sound" + ferre, "to bear") percher enjoys a large native range for breeding, residency and wintering.

Breeding favors homelands in the northern continental, or Lower 48, United States and expands the expressive songbird's range.

In Canada, all ten of Canada's provinces and two (Northwest Territories and Yukon) of Canada's three territories welcome breeding Red Winged Blackbirds.

Expanded ranges for breeding in the United States include: northern Cook Inlet and northern Kalgin Island in Lower Cook Inlet in south central Alaska; between the Tanana and Yukon rivers in Alaska's east central districts of Fairbanks North Star Borough, Southeast Fairbanks Census Area and Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area.

Residency increases the range of Red Winged Blackbirds.

In Canada, Red Winged Blackbirds reside on the west coast along western coastal British Columbia, including southern Vancouver Island, and in the east in southeastern Ontario, southeastern Quebec and in Southern, or South Shore, Nova Scotia.

In the United States, Red Winged Blackbirds reside throughout the Lower 48.

In the northwestern Caribbean Sea, Red Winged Blackbirds reside on the southwestern Cuban island of Isla de la Juventud ("Isle of Youth") and in northwestern and southwestern Matanzas, southeastern Mayabeque and western Pinar del Río provinces in western mainland Cuba.

In the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, Red Winged Blackbirds reside on the islands of Abaco, Andros, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama and New Providence in the Commonwealth of the Bahamas.

In Mexico, except for two northwestern states of Sinaloa and Sonora, Red Winged Blackbirds reside in all remaining federal entities (29 states + federal district of Mexico City).

In Central America, Red Winged Blackbirds reside in northern Belize, southwestern to south central Guatemala, northwestern Honduras, western Nicaragua and northwestern Costa Rica.

Wintering may occur in Mexico's northwestern and north central provinces of Baja California, Chihuahua, Durango, Nayarit, Sinaloa and Sonora.

Red Winged Blackbird distribution map; blue = breeding; green = year round; orange = wintering: Cephas, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Agelaius phoeniceus (Ancient Greek: ἀγελαῖος, agelaîos, "gregarious; in a flock" + Latin: phoeniceus, "deep red") is known commonly in English as Red Winged Blackbird.

Female and male Red Winged Blackbirds exhibit sexual dimorphism (Ancient Greek: δίς, dís, “twice” + μορφή, morphḗ, “form, shape” + -ισμός, -ismós, suffix forming abstract nouns). Males display bold coloring contrasting glossy blackness from head to tail with distinctive red and yellow epaulets, or shoulder patches. Smaller in size, females present overall dark brown coloration, with brown-and-buff breast and belly, and a whitish eyebrow.

During their breeding season, which may extend from February to August, peaking from mid-May to July, Red Winged Blackbirds lay a clutch of two to four beautiful pale eggs for each of one to two broods.

Shells are blue green to gray, with brown, black or purple markings that especially decorate the large end of the oval-shaped egg.

Red Winged Blackbirds favor such wetland habitats as fresh or saltwater marshes, rice paddies, vernal (Latin: vernalis, "of the spring") pools and willow (Salix spp.) forest areas.

Females build nests low, near the water surface in marshes or near the ground in drier locations, such as alfalfa (Medicago sativa) fields and sedge (Cyperaceae family) meadows.

Just hatched! Red Winged Blackbird chicks, Ernst Waterfowl Production Area, North Dakota; Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014: USFWS-Mountain Prairie, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Preferred flora for establishing their tightly woven cup-shaped nests include: cattails (Typha spp.), goldenrods (Solidago spp.), reeds (Phragmites australis), sedges (Cyperaceae family) and willows (Salix spp.).

As I was weeding the banks of the ephemeral creek that winds through the willow grove demarcating the west lawn, I uncovered a Red Winged Blackbird's broken, pale eggshell. The pale blue greenness of the shell was decorated with brownish black squiggles at the large end of the egg.

Ever since that discovery, a male Red Winged Blackbird has flown from the nearby cattail-filled vernal pool to perch on a willow a few feet across the creek from me. He stays awhile to serenade the world with beautiful sounds, of which my favorite calls are reminiscent of clear clinking and tinkling of glasses.

Helpful friends; flamboyant male Red Winged Blackbird picks ticks off White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Big Stone National Wildlife Area's native prairie habitat, west central Minnesotaa; photo by Naomi Ballard: US Fish and Wildlife Service -- Midwest Region (USFWSmidwest), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Female Red-Winged Blackbird in Bluffer's Park, Toronto, Ontario, Central Canada: Mdf, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Agelaius_phoeniceus2.jpg

Red Winged Blackbird distribution map; blue = breeding; green = year round; orange = wintering: Cephas, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Agelaius_phoeniceus.svg

Just hatched! Red Winged Blackbird chicks, Ernst Waterfowl Production Area, North Dakota; Thursday, Jan. 9, 2014: USFWS-Mountain Prairie, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsmtnprairie/11857385834/

Helpful friends; Male Red Winged Blackbird and deer friend in Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge, west central Minnesota; photo by Naomi Ballard: US Fish and Wildlife Service -- Midwest Region (USFWSmidwest), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwsmidwest/9606730083/

For further information:

Hauber, Mark. E. The Book of Eggs: A Life-Size Guide to the Eggs of Six Hundred of the World's Bird Species. Lewes, UK: Ivy Press, 2014.

Jaramillo, Alvaro, and Peter Burke. New World Blackbirds: The Icterids. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999.

"Red-winged Blackbird." Wild Bird Watching.
Available @ http://www.wild-bird-watching.com/Red-winged-Blackbird.html

"Red-winged Blackbird: Agelaius phoeniceus." Fairfax County Public Schools > Island Creek Elementary School > Study of Northern Virginia Ecology.
Available @ http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/red-winged_blackbird.htm

"Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)." National Park Service > Presidio of San Francisco > Learn about the Park > Explore Nature.
Available @ http://www.nps.gov/prsf/learn/nature/red-winged-blackbird.htm

"Red-winged Blackbird: Life History." The Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds > Guide.
Available @ http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-winged_Blackbird/lifehistory

Northern Cardinal Faves: Popcorn for Female or Chestnut Seeds for Male

Summary: Northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) are New World birds enjoyed as backyard guests in North America. Diet faves include chestnut seeds and popcorn.

A In a white-flowered Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis), male feeds a female Northern Cardinal as an endearing courtship ritual of the New World species who mate for life and share lives year-round; Sunday, April 27 2008, 03:49:46: Linda Hartong, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons

Northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), also known as common cardinals or as redbirds, are New World songbirds native to North and Central America.

Their range extends across southern Canada in the eastern provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec.

In the United States, Northern cardinals claim homelands in 39 of the Lower 48 as well as in the nation’s capital, Washington D.C. Only the west coast states (California, Oregon, Washington) and the Rocky Mountain states (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming) are excluded from the songbird’s native range in the contiguous United States.

Northern cardinals extend their southern range beyond U.S. borders into eastern and northwestern Mexico as well as into the Central American countries of Belize and Guatemala.

In the United States, the Northern Cardinal holds the record as the most popular state bird, with official designation as a state symbol in seven states: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.

Even though Northern cardinals have healthy population levels, they are included in the prohibition against capturing, killing or selling of migratory birds (16 U.S. Code § 703) as provided in the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (MBTA). The pioneer federal law grants full protection to both dead and live birds as well as to their eggs and nests. As of March 2010, the MBTA protects 1,007 migratory avian species.

Northern cardinals may not be kept as pets but it is not illegal to enjoy them as backyard visitors.

Northern cardinals are mid-sized songbirds that mate for life.

Both males and females sport face masks, prominent raised head crests and coral, cone-shaped beaks. The adult male is easily recognizable with brilliant crimson coloring and a black face mask. The adult female contrasts the male’s vibrant colors with a subdued grey-to-black face mask, overall dull tawny-to-grey brown tones, and slightly reddish tinted crest, tail feathers, and wings.

As granivores (Latin: granum, grain” + voro, “to eat”), Northern cardinals prefer seeds. Their primarily herbivorous (Latin: herba, “grass” + voro, “to eat”) diet also includes fruits and grains.

Although adults disfavor insects except during scarce seasons such as winter, they feed their young an almost exclusively insect diet.

Backyard birders attract Northern cardinals to feeders stocked with such faves as cracked corn (Zea mays), safflower (Carthamus tinctorius) seeds and sunflower (Helianthus annuus) seeds.

Daily, around 6 p.m. EDT (Eastern Daylight Time), a Northern cardinal couple likes to graze around the Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima) tree in the south lawn bordering one of my home's living room windows.

The female favors unpopped popcorn kernels that I toss atop the leftover coffee grounds that fill a previously empty post hole.

The male either perches in sight of his mate in a southern, lower branch overhanging her feeding site or contents himself with last year's bounty of chestnut seeds that carpet the ground under the chestnut's huge overhang area.

The scene epitomizes the paradise gifted by nature through the magic of ordinary moments.

Northern cardinal eggs in nest; Monday, April 18, 2011, 17:32: marti175, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

In a white-flowered Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis), male feeds a female Northern Cardinal as an endearing courtship ritual of the New World species who mate for life and share lives year-round; Sunday, April 27, 2008, 03:49:46: Linda Hartong, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cardinalis_cardinalis_in_Cercis_canadensis.jpg;
linda yvonne, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/46422632@N00/2449770721

Northern cardinal eggs in nest; Monday, April 18, 2011, 17:32: marti175, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Northern_Cardinal_Eggs_in_nest.jpg

For further information:

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Division of Public Affairs. "Official Number of Protected Migratory Bird Species Climbs to more than 1,000." U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service > News. March 1, 2010.
Available @ http://www.fws.gov/news/ShowNews.cfm?newsId=1A6C3012-D22E-4F75-ABD98CD33992DD42.

Northern Mockingbird Eggs: Blue Green Shell With Brown Abstract Spots

Summary: Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos) are the only New World mockingbird native to North America. Their beautiful eggs are blue green with brown marks.

Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) perching in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, east central Florida; Saturday, March 8, 2003, photo credit Ryan Hagerty/US Fish and Wildlife Service: Public Domain, via USFWS Digital Library

Mimus polyglottos (Ancient Greek: μῖμος, mimos, “mimic” + πολύς, polús, “many” + γλῶττα, glôtta, “tongue, language”) is the only New World mockingbird native to North America.

The intelligent, gifted mimic claims continental homelands from southeastern Canada southward and westward across the continental United States and further south throughout Mexico.

Known commonly as Northern Mockingbird, the North American avian native also claims island homelands in the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, and the Greater Antilles (Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico).

Northern Mockingbirds are honored officially among governmental symbols as the state bird of five southern states: Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.

Originally the Northern Mockingbird was designated as the official state bird of South Carolina in 1939. In 1948, the Carolina wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) replaced the mockingbird as Carolina’s state bird.

Females and males are not distinguished by sexual dimorphism (Ancient Greek: δίς, dís, “twice” + μορφή, morphḗ, “form, shape” +  -ισμός, -ismós, suffix forming abstract nouns). Basically, they are look alikes.

As a medium-sized songbird, the Northern Mockingbird presents a long silhouette. The New World native has a downward curving, long, thin bill; long legs; long tail feathers.

Overall coloration emphasizes gray and white. Each wing sports a white patch, often discernible in folded wings of perching Northern Mockingbirds and vividly visible as large white flashes in flight. Outer tail feathers also showily flash their whiteness in flight.

Parenting two to three broods annually, the Northern Mockingbird lays strikingly beautiful eggs that vary greatly in color and markings. The oval-shaped eggs, numbering two to six per brood, or clutch, appear as pale blue, bluish green, greenish blue or greenish white shells. Shells bear natural, decorative splotches in shades of brown, especially cinnamon (yellowish brown), hazel (golden-brown), rufous (rust-brown), russet (reddish-orange brown) or tawny (light brownish orange).

Last week, during April's transition into May, as I was doing yard work in the west lawn that slopes to an ephemeral creek, I glimpsed the broken half of a blue-green shell, riddled with rusty brown abstract blotches and cradled by blades of grass.

The pastel half-shell was lying against one of the surface roots extending from the south face of the capacious boxelder maple (Acer negundo) that shades the central section of the west lawn. After a few moments of scouting, I espied the shell's other half propped against a nearby surface root. Hopefully a hatchling split open the egg rather than an unpleasant alternative, such as dire evidence of a predatory nest-robber.

Over the weekend, on Sunday, May 2, a quiet adult Northern Mockingbird occasionally perched conspicuously overhead, on less leafy branches, as I mowed and weeded the lushly carpeted creek banks. The silent songbird may have been guarding hatchlings.

I like to think that my avian observer was pleased with my lawn sculpting endeavors. Favoring short grass, Northern Mockingbirds appreciate mowed lawns.

Northern Mockingbird eggs in nest in Las Vegas, Clark County, Southern Nevada: ZooFari, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) perching in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, east central Florida; Saturday, March 8, 2003, photo credit Ryan Hagerty/US Fish and Wildlife Service: Public Domain, via USFWS Digital Library @ http://digitalmedia.fws.gov/cdm/singleitem/collection/natdiglib/id/15074/

Northern Mockingbird eggs in nest in Las Vegas, Clark County, Southern Nevada: ZooFari, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mocking_Bird_eggs.JPG

For further information:

“Northern Mockingbird: Life History.” The Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds > Guide.
Available @ http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Mockingbird/lifehistory

“South Carolina State Bird.” Netstate > States > Symbols > Birds. Last updated April 19, 2015.
Available @ http://www.netstate.com/states/symb/birds/sc_carolina_wren.htm

Eta Aquarids: Spring Meteor Showers Gifted to Earth From Comet Halley

Summary: The early May-peaking Eta Aquarids are annual spring meteor showers gifted to Earth from Comet Halley.

stray Eta Aquarid Friday, May 10, 2013, 04:34:05: Jason Jenkins (j-dub1980[THANK YOU FOR 100k+ Views], CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

The Eta Aquarids (pronunciation: ey-tuh, or ee-tuh + ak-wuh-rids, or ah-kwuh-rids) appear as the first of two annual meteor showers produced by Earth's passage through the trail of debris released by Comet Halley. Also known as Halley's Comet, the periodic comet with a predictable orbit of every 75 to 76 years is also responsible for autumn's Orionid meteor shower, which recurs annually from around October 15 to 29.

According to information compiled for over three decades by amateur astronomer organizations in Australia, England, Japan, New Zealand and the United States, about one-third of the Eta Aquarids produce trails of luminosity lasting for a second or longer.

The Eta Aquarids' annual shower commences around April 19 and continues until around May 28. Peak viewing occurs around May 5 to 6. The Eta Aquarids are considered to have a broad maximum, which means that optimal viewing immediately precedes and follows the predicted peak.

Although observable globally, the Halley-induced meteor shower is best viewed in the Southern Hemisphere, especially in Australia, where shower rates spike at 30 to 40 per hour. Viewers in the Northern Hemisphere, especially in Europe, Japan and the United States, are treated to displays rising from 10 per hour to a peak hourly rate of 20.

A meteor shower's name reflects the name of the constellation seemingly located nearest to the radiant, also known as apparent radiant, which is the point, from Earth's perspective, from which the shower appears to originate. The radiant for the Halley-associated April-to-May meteor shower appears to lie near Eta Aquarii (η Aqr, η Aquarii) in the constellation of Aquarius the Cup Bearer, or Water Carrier.

Eta Aquarii contributes to the shape of the constellation's water jar, along with Gamma Aquarii (γ Aqr, γ Aquarii), Pi Aquarii (π Aqr, π Aquarii), and the jar's central star, Zeta Aquarii (ζ Aquarii, ζ Aqr). As the 10th largest constellation, occupying a space of 980 square degrees, Aquarius is unmissable.

With its current placement as an equatorial constellation, Aquarius is one of 15 constellations through which the Earth's celestial equator passes. Because of Earth's axial tilt, the celestial equator currently traces an angle of 23.4 degrees with respect to the great, or Riemannian, circle that divides the Earth into two equal hemispheres. Although visible globally, equatorial constellations reach their upper culmination -- or highest point as viewed from Earth -- in the tropics. The equatorial-based region of the tropics is defined in the Northern Hemisphere by the Tropic of Cancer (23 degrees 26 minutes 16 seconds north 0 degrees 0 minutes 0 seconds west) and in the Southern Hemisphere by the Tropic of Capricorn (23 degrees 26 minutes 26 seconds south 0 degrees 0 minutes 0 seconds west).

Earth's two equators, inclination of Earth's celestial equator (green circle) with respect to plane of the ecliptic's great circle (black circle): Tfr000, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

During spring in the Northern Hemisphere, Aquarius appears in the eastern to southeastern skies. Optimal viewing of Aquarius in the Northern Hemisphere is in autumn.

Spring in the Northern Hemisphere equates to autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, which is the optimal season for viewing Aquarius in southern latitudes. During autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, Aquarius appears in the eastern to northeastern skies.

The best time for viewing the Eta Aquarid meteor showers during their peak occurrence is in the early morning hours before local sunrise.

The phase of the moon may facilitate or trouble viewing of the Eta Aquarid meteor showers. In 2015, the peak date of pre-dawn hours on Wednesday, May 6, coincides with a waning gibbous moon, which may distract from -- but not obscure -- the shower.

Optimal viewing strategies include locating sites where moonlight casts shadows, such as the side of a building, and focusing attention in darkened sky patches near, but not within, the radiant.

Even outside of prime viewing latitudes, the Eta Aquarids are worthy sights.

depiction of Aquarius by British cartographer and engraver Sidney Hall (1788-1831) for Urania's Mirror; or, A View of the Heavens (32 astronomical star chart cards, first published in November 1824); Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington DC: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

stray Eta Aquarid Friday, May 10, 2013, 04:34:05: Jason Jenkins (j-dub1980[THANK YOU FOR 100k+ Views], CC BY SA 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/jdub1980/8726699547/

Earth's two equators, inclination of Earth's celestial equator (green circle) with respect to plane of the ecliptic's great circle (black circle): Tfr000, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Earths_orbit_and_ecliptic.PNG

depiction of Aquarius by British cartographer and engraver Sidney Hall (1788-1831) for Urania's Mirror; or, A View of the Heavens (32 astronomical star chart cards, first published in November 1824); Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington DC: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sidney_Hall_-_Urania's_Mirror_-_Aquarius,_Piscis_Australis_&_Ballon_Aerostatique.jpg;
No known restrictions on publication in the U.S., via Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC) @ https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002695517/

For further information:

Kronk, Gary W. “Observing the Eta Aquarids.” Meteor Showers Online.
Available @ http://meteorshowersonline.com/eta_aquarids.html

McClure, Bruce. "Eta Aquarid Meteors Peak in Moonlight, Before Dawn May 6."Eta Aquarid meteors peak in moonlight, before dawn May 6." EarthSky > Tonight > May 5 - May 11. May 5, 2015.
Available @ http://earthsky.org/tonight/eta-aquarid-meteor-shower-best-before-dawn-may-6

Cercis canadensis: Pleasing Year Round Palette of Eastern Redbud

Summary: Cercis canadensis is a New World tree native to central and eastern North America. Eastern Redbud has the greatest range of New World redbuds.

Eastern Redbud in flower, mid-March, Duke Forest Korstian Division, Durham, north central North Carolina; Friday, March 16, 2012, 11:57: Jane Shelby Richardson at Duke University (Dcrjsr), CC BY 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Cercis canadensis is a New World native in the popular, global genus of redbud trees. Cercis canadensis claims native homelands in central and eastern North America.

The resplendent spring bloomer is native to the province of Ontario in east central Canada.

A disjunct, or separate, population, ranges from Texas’ southwestern borders into northeastern Mexico.

In the United States, Cercis canadensis is native to 31 states in the Lower 48: one southwestern state (New Mexico); four Great Plains states (Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas); eight Midwestern states (Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin); two South Central states (Kentucky, Tennessee); three Gulf Coast states: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi); and 13 East Coast states from Massachusetts to Florida.

Cercis canadensis is known commonly in English as Eastern Redbud.

Beyond its native borders, Eastern Redbud may be enjoyed via introduction or naturalization in all 48 states of the continental United States.

The popular ornamental thrives in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 4B through 9A. Eastern Redbuds withstand average annual minimum winter temperatures in ranges of minus 25 to minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 31.7 to minus 28.9 degrees Celsius) to 20 to 25 degrees F (minus 6.7 to minus 3.9 degrees C).

Eastern Redbud reaches a height of 15 to 30 feet (4.5 to 9.1 meters), with an attractive spread of 15 to 25 feet (4.5 to 7.6 meters). The graceful silhouette of maturity is reminiscent of a vase, with branches angling upward and with rounded crown.

Although Eastern Redbud features close-grained, hard, heavy wood, the timber industry assigns no commercial value as a source of lumber because of deemed detractors of irregular shape and small size.

Valued by horticulturists as an ornamental, Eastern Redbuds are extensively planted in private and public landscapes.

The early spring bloomer opens flowers from March to May in a resplendent profusion of pink or reddish purple. Occasionally flowers appear as pale, almost washed out, pink or as white. Cercis canadensis 'Alba' is a cultivar, or intentionally cultivated variety, that produces showy white flowers.

During floral blooming, heart-shaped leaves appear, maturing in dark green showiness. In autumn, leaves illuminate the tree in showy yellowness.

Clusters of flat seedpods, each containing four to 10 black or brown, hard small seeds, appear first as youthful green and then mature as reddish brown.

Despite the lack of commercial appeal in the timber industry, Eastern Redbud is a giving tree, offering its pretty edibility for culinary and therapeutic uses.

Flowers, fresh in salads or fried as fritters, and roasted seeds comprise popular recipes.

Native Americans especially prize the efficacy of Eastern Redbud bark and roots as therapeutic remedies. Alabama, or Alibamu (Alabama: Albaamaha), of southeastern United States prepare an infusion of roots and inner bark for congestion and for fever. Cherokee (Cherokee: Ani-Yuⁿwiya) of southeastern United States prepare an infusion of bark for whooping cough. Lenape of Delaware River watershed prepare an infusion of bark for fever and vomiting.

Avian grazers such as Northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus), Northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus colchicus) and rose-breasted grosbeaks (Pheucticus ludovicianus) join small and large mammals such as white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and Eastern grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) in appreciation of Eastern Redbud seeds.

Eastern carpenter bees (Xylocopa virginica) and honey bees (Apis) number among Eastern Redbud pollinators.

The Royal Horticultural Society, founded in 1804 in London, England, has recognized two cultivars of Eastern Redbud for excellence as garden plants with its prestigious Award of Garden Merit (AGM). Cercis canadensis ‘Forest Pansy’ received an Award of Garden Merit in 1993. Cercis canadensis ‘Ruby Falls’ merited the award in 2012.

Since March 30, 1937, Eastern Redbud, designated as Redbud, has represented Oklahoma as the Sooner State's official tree.

Apart from ventures abroad, I have always lived in proximity to Eastern Redbud trees.

Their year-round beauty is a constant source of appreciation, grace and learning.

showy white flowers of Cercis canadensis 'Alba' along Olden Avenue, Ewing, west central New Jersey; Saturday, May 4, 2013, 16:42: Famartin, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Eastern Redbud in flower, mid-March, Duke Forest Korstian Division, Durham, north central North Carolina; Friday, March 16, 2012, 11:57: Jane Shelby Richardson at Duke University (Dcrjsr), CC BY 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cercis_canadensis_redbud_tree_bloom.jpg

showy white flowers of Cercis canadensis 'Alba' along Olden Avenue, Ewing, west central New Jersey; Saturday, May 4, 2013, 16:42: Famartin, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2013-05-04_16_42_37_Cercis_canadensis_'Alba'_along_Olden_Avenue_in_Ewing_New_Jersey.jpg

For further information:

Brakie, Melinda. "Plant fact sheet for eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis)." USDA Plants Database. USDA-Nacogdoches TX: Natural Resources Conservation Service, East Texas Plant Materials Center, 2010.
Available @ http://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_ceca4.pdf

"Cercis canadensis." US Forest Service > Fire Effects Information System (FEIS) Database > Plants > Trees.
Available @ http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/tree/cercan/all.html

Dickson, James G. "Cercis canadensis L. Eastern Redbud." Silvics of North America. Volume 2: Hardwoods. Agriculture Handbook 654. Washington DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture/Forest Service, 1990.
Available @ http://na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/cercis/canadensis.htm

Gilman, Edward F., and Dennis G. Watson. "Cercis canadensis: Eastern Redbud." Fact Sheet ENH304. November 1993; reviewed February 2014. University of Florida IFAS Extension > Redbud > Southern Trees Fact Sheets > Leguminosae (Fabaceae)(taxonomic family).
Available @ http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st145

Immel, Diana L. "Eastern Redbud Cercis canadensis." Plant Guide. Last edited: 01jun06.
Available @ http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_ceca4.pdf

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis mexicana: Purple Pink Spring Flowers of Mexican Redbud." Earth and Space News. Tuesday, April 28, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/cercis-mexicana-purple-pink-spring.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis occidentalis: Magenta Spring of California or Western Redbud." Earth and Space News. Saturday, May 2, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/05/cercis-occidentalis-magenta-spring-of.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis siliquastrum: Deep Pink Spring Flowers of Judas or Judea Tree." Earth and Space News. Monday, April 27, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/cercis-siliquastrum-deep-pink-spring.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis reniformis Oklahoma: Magenta Spring Flowers of Oklahoma Redbud." Earth and Space News. Friday, May 1, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/05/cercis-reniformis-oklahoma-magenta.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis texensis: Showy Pink to Purple Red Flowers of Texas Redbud." Earth and Space News. Thursday, April 30, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/cercis-texensis-showy-pink-to-purple.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Eastern Redbud: Spring's Early Pleasing Pastel of Magenta Pink." Wizzley > Plants & Gardening > Plants > Trees.
Available @ https://wizzley.com/eastern-redbud-cercis-canadensis/

Moerman, Dan. “Cercis canadensis.” University of Michigan-Dearborn / Native American Ethnobotany.
Available @ http://herb.umd.umich.edu/herb/search.pl

Cercis occidentalis: Magenta Spring of California or Western Redbud

Summary: Cercis occidentalis is a New World tree native to American Southwest. Western Redbud dazzles with magenta spring flowers and fall's yellow, then red leaves.

closeup of Cercis occidentalis flowers in Red Rock Canyon, Spring Mountains, southern Nevada; April 2004: Stan Shebs, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Cercis occidentalis is a New World deciduous tree native to the southwestern corner of the United States. Cercis occidentalis claims native homelands in four southwestern states: Arizona, California, Nevada, and Utah.

Preferred native habitats feature elevations up to 4,000 feet (1,219 meters). Cercis occidentalis favors harsh environments, such as canyons, steep slopes and ephemeral stream beds. Cercis occidentalis thrives in gravelly, rocky and well-drained soils.

Scientific synonyms include Cercis canadensis var. orbiculata and Cercis occidentalis var. orbiculata.

Cercis occidentalis is known commonly in English as California Redbud or Western Redbud.

Cercis occidentalis (pronunciation: SER-sis ock-sih-den-TAY-liss) adapts to landscapes beyond the borders of native homelands.

In the continental, or Lower 48, United States, Western Redbud thrives in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 6A to 9B, surviving average annual minimum winter temperature ranges of minus 10 to minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23.3 to minus 20.6 degrees Celsius) to 25 to 30 degrees F (minus 3.9 to minus 1.1 degrees C).

Cercis occidentalis succeeds as an introduced or naturalized tree in 37 of the Lower 48 states. Eleven northern states serve as unfavorable locales: Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

Western Redbuds range in height from 7 feet (2-plus meters) to over 20 feet (6-plus meters). With a spread of 15 to 25 feet (4.5 to 7.62 meters), they present graceful vase-like silhouettes.

Sweetpea (Lathyrus odoratus)-like flowers colorfully celebrate spring from February through April, appearing before leaves. Five petals dazzle in colors from magenta pink to reddish purple and attract New World pollinators such as bumble bees (Bombus spp.) and orchard mason bees (Osmia lignaria).

Shiny, thick leaves present heart-shaped, reniform (Latin: ren, “kidney” + formis, “having the form of”), or rounded, silhouettes. As deciduous (Latin: deciduus, “that which falls off”) trees, Western Redbuds forego spring and summer greenness for autumnal glory, first as yellow and then as brown and red.

Seedpods, which average seven, bean-like hard seeds, ripen first as purple and then turn russet-brown, persisting into winter.

Native Americans of the American Southwest especially value Western Redbud for wine-red young branches and twigs that contribute vividness to basket designs.

Because of Western Redbud’s penchant for vigorous resprouting after fires, prior to Euro-American settlement of California, Native Americans routinely burned hillsides after autumnal leaf shedding to encourage sprouting of straight, young shoots prized in basketry.

Cercis occidentalis in the south fork of Pine Creek Canyon, Red Rock Canyon, Spring Mountains, southern Nevada; Saturday, March 24, 2007, 12:39: Stan Shebs, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

closeup of Cercis occidentalis flowers in Red Rock Canyon, Spring Mountains, southern Nevada; April 2004: Stan Shebs, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cercis_occidentalis_branch.jpg

Cercis occidentalis in the south fork of Pine Creek Canyon, Red Rock Canyon, Spring Mountains, southern Nevada; Saturday, March 24, 2007, 12:39: Stan Shebs, CC BY SA 3.0 Unported, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cercis_occidentalis_1.jpg

For further information:

Anderson, M. Kat. "California Redbud: Cercis orbiculata Greene." Plant Fact Sheet. Last edited 01jun06. USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center.
Available @ http://www.plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_ceor9.pdf

Anderson, M. Kat. "California Redbud: Cercis orbiculata Greene." Plant Guide. Last edited 01jun06. USDA NRCS National Plant Data Center.
Available @ http://www.plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_ceor9.pdf

Gilman, Edward F., and Dennis G. Watson. "Cercis occidentalis: Western Redbud. Fact Sheet ENH311. November 1993; reviewed May 2014. University of Florida IFAS Extension > Redbud > Southern Trees Fact Sheets > Leguminosae (Fabaceae)(taxonomic family).
Available @ https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st152

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis mexicana: Purple Pink Spring Flowers of Mexican Redbud." Earth and Space News. Tuesday, April 28, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/cercis-mexicana-purple-pink-spring.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis reniformis Oklahoma: Magenta Spring Flowers of Oklahoma Redbud." Earth and Space News. Friday, May 1, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/05/cercis-reniformis-oklahoma-magenta.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis siliquastrum: Deep Pink Spring Flowers of Judas or Judea Tree." Earth and Space News. Monday, April 27, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/cercis-siliquastrum-deep-pink-spring.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis texensis: Showy Pink to Purple Red Flowers of Texas Redbud." Earth and Space News. Thursday, April 30, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/cercis-texensis-showy-pink-to-purple.html

"Taxon: Cercis occidentalis Torr. ex A. Gray." USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. Germplasm Resources Information Network - (GRIN) [Online Database]. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
Available @ http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?9946

Cercis reniformis Oklahoma: Magenta Spring Flowers of Oklahoma Redbud

Summary: Cercis reniformis is a New World tree native to Oklahoma and Texas. Known as Oklahoma Redbud, the early spring bloomer produces profuse magenta flowers.

closeup of magenta spring flowers of Cercis reniformis; Saturday, April 18, 2009, 17:10:31: woodleywonderworks, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Cercis is a global genus, known commonly as redbuds, comprising 10 to 13 species. Eight species are native to the Old World.

Varying in number according to designations as species or subspecies, New World native redbuds tally at two species (Cercis canadensis, Cercis occidentalis) with three subspecies or at five species.

Cercis canadensis, the most widespread species, is known commonly as Eastern Redbud.

Cercis mexicana, known commonly as Mexican Redbud, is native to southwestern Texas and northeastern to north central Mexico.

Cercis occidentalis, known as California, or Western, Redbud, is native to Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah in the American Southwest.

Cercis reniformis, known as Oklahoma Redbud, is native to Oklahoma and to Texas east of the Pecos River.

Cercis texensis, known commonly as Texas Redbud, is native to Oklahoma and Texas.

Overlapping territories contribute to confusion in designating redbuds as subspecies or as synonyms. Cercis reniformis and Cercis texensis often have been treated as synonymous scientific names.

Among the plant registrations included in the issue of Arnoldia published by Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum for April 29, 1966, is a listing for Cercis reniformis 'Oklahoma.'

In spring 1964, Thomas Otis Warren (July 8, 1888-December 1968) and his son, Charles Preston Warren (May 23, 1932-Aug. 18, 2003), discovered a wild redbud of unknown parentage in the ancient Arbuckle Mountains of south central Oklahoma. The father-son discovery is thought to be a natural hybrid between Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) and Cercis reniformis, often considered a synonym for Texas Redbud, Cercis texensis.

As founders of Warren & Son Nursery in Nicoma Park in the eastern Oklahoma City metropolitan area of central Oklahoma, Otis and Preston developed the tree's seedlings, which Otis registered Nov. 12, 1964, as Cercis reniformis 'Oklahoma.' Warren & Son Nursery introduced their discovery, known commonly as Oklahoma Redbud, in 1965.

Oklahoma Redbud distinguishes itself with showy flowers which open in dramatic, festive shades of magenta or wine red pinkness.

Thick leaves are closely spaced and shine as glossy, dark green heart or reniform (Latin: ren, “kidney” + formis, “having the form of”) shapes until flashing brilliantly as yellow in autumn.

Purple seedpods steadfastly cling to branches into winter.

In designating the state tree on March 30, 1937, Oklahoma's statutes avoid clamor over changing scientific names by use of the common name of redbud for the Cercis genus.

Title 2 Oklahoma Statutes: Section 16-69. (State Tree -- Redbud) states:
"The redbud tree shall be adopted and the same be made the official tree of this state."

Cercis reniformis acclimates to coastal and southern ecosystems outside of the grassy flatness of the Great Plains, forested mountains of the U.S. Interior Highlands and proclivity for severe weather that characterize Oklahoma.

Found in then-designated USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6 in 1966, Oklahoma Redbud tolerates Zones 6b to 9a, with average annual minimum winter temperatures ranging from minus 5 to 0 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 20.6 to minus 17.8 degrees Celsius) to 20 to 25 degrees F (minus 6.7 to minus 3.9 degrees C).

Comfort ranges for Oklahoma Redbud as an introduced or naturalized ornamental encompass 36 of the Lower 48 states. Excluded from Oklahoma Redbud's introduced or naturalized range are twelve northernmost locales: Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Cercis texensis vivifies landscape at Claude Chana Gold PannerMonument, Old Town Auburn, Placer County, northeastern California; on Tuesday, May 16, 1848, prospector Chana (1811-May 24, 1882) discovered gold in Auburn Ravine; sculpture by Auburn dentist Kenneth Fox (1925-2020); Saturday, March 21, 2015, 13:14:55: cultivar413, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

closeup of magenta spring flowers of Cercis reniformis; Saturday, April 18, 2009, 17:10:31: woodleywonderworks, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/wwworks/3453948807/; woodleywonderworks, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cercis_canadensis_var._texensis_(3453948807).jpg

Cercis texensis 'Oklahoma' vivifies landscape at Claude Chana Gold Panner Monument, Old Town Auburn, Auburn, Placer County, northeastern California; on Tuesday, May 16, 1848, prospector Chana (1811-May 24, 1882) discovered gold in Auburn Ravine; sculpture by Auburn dentist Kenneth Fox (1925-2020); Saturday, March 21, 2015, 13:14:55: cultivar413, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/131880272@N06/16999606049/; K M, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, @ https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/cercis-canadensis-var-texensis-oklahoma/

For further information:

Gilman, Edward F., and Dennis G. Watson. "Cercis reniformis 'Oklahoma': Oklahoma Redbud." Fact Sheet ENH312. November 1993; reviewed May 2014. University of Florida IFAS Extension > Redbud > Southern Trees Fact Sheets > Leguminosae (Fabaceae)(taxonomic family).
Available @ http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st153

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis mexicana: Purple Pink Spring Flowers of Mexican Redbud." Earth and Space News. Tuesday, April 28, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/cercis-mexicana-purple-pink-spring.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis siliquastrum: Deep Pink Spring Flowers of Judas or Judea Tree." Earth and Space News. Monday, April 27, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/cercis-siliquastrum-deep-pink-spring.html

Marriner, Derdriu. "Cercis texensis: Showy Pink to Purple Red Flowers of Texas Redbud." Earth and Space News. Thursday, April 30, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/04/cercis-texensis-showy-pink-to-purple.html

Nordine, Ray. "New Plan Session." Proceedings of the International Plant Propagator's Society, vol. 16 (1966): 291-293.

The Oklahoma Forestry Code: Title 2, Article 16 of the Oklahoma Statutes. Oklahoma City OK: Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry - Forestry Services Division, July 1, 2007.
Available @ http://www.forestry.ok.gov/Websites/forestry/Images/code,%202007.pdf

Wyman, Donald. "International Plant Registration." Arnoldia, vol. 23, No. 5 (May 31, 1963): 85-92.
Available @ http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/1963-23--inernational-plant-registration.pdf

Wyman, Donald. "More Plant Registrations." Arnoldia, vol. 26, No. 3 (April 29, 1966): 13-16.
Available @ http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/1966-26--more-plant-registrations.pdf