Finches are considered the most highly developed and skilled of all birds.
Finches are stout, compact birds that survive on a diet of seeds and insects.
During the early 1800s, cardinals were bought and sold as caged pets. Considered highly valuable for their song and coloring, thousands of birds were trapped each year, and sold for profit. America made a pact with Europe in the later 1800s, which involved trapping of the cardinal in North America and trading or selling it to Europeans. The passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 1918 brought this trade to an end and today, the cardinal can no longer be held captive. It is believed that cardinals were named after the Cardinals of the Catholic Church, who donned red robes.