Also known as “red bird” or “common cardinal.”
Territory: Southern Canada through the eastern United States- Maine to Texas, South through Mexico. Found in woodlands, gardens, shrub lands, swamps, and residential areas.
Diet:
- Granivorous (“predators of seed”)
- Also feeds on insects
- 90% of diet is seeds, grains, and fruits
- Also a ground feeder- finds food hopping on the ground through shubbery
- Feeds young exclusively on insects like beetles, cicadas, grasshoppers, and snails
- Will also eat corn, oats, and the blossoms and bark of elm trees
- Cardinals drink maple sap from holes created by sapsuckers (4 species of Northern American Woodpeckers.)
- To attract cardinals successfully into your backyard, fill a feeder with safflower seed or sunflower seeds
Appearance:
- Mid-sized song bird
- 8-9 inches, males slightly larger than females
- Black mask on males and grey on females
- Males are vibrant red whereas females are more dull in appearance favoring a more olive/red coloring
- Legs and feet are a dark pink/brown
- Irises are brown
- During the winter months, Cardinals can be seen fluffing up their feathers to trap warm air and keep cold air at bay
- Cardinal males at times mistake their reflection for another male and will attack his own image continuously
Predators:
- Falcons
- Shrikes
- Bald Eagles
- Golden Eagles
- Long-eared owls
- Eastern Screech Owls
- Predators of chicks and eggs include milk snakes, constrictors, blue jays, eastern gray squirrels, fox squirrels, eastern chipmunks, and domestic cats
Behavior:
- Cardinals are territorial song birds
- Male behaves territoriality by marking out his area with song
- During courtship, males feed females seeds beak to beak
- Pairs mate for life
- Mated pairs travel together
- Both sexes sing
- Cardinals have a distinct alarm like call
- Pairs stay together year round
- Females do most of the nest building typically spending 3-9 days and uses the nest just once
Facts:
- The name of the northern cardinal comes from the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church
- Oldest Northern Cardinal banded by researchers lived at least 15 years and 9 months
- The oldest captive cardinal lived to be 28.5 years
- Cardinals was once a prized pet but now their captivity is banned
To learn more about nesting and to hear the Northern Cardinal’s songs and calls visit: http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/northern-cardinal
Shanna Weber
Photos provided by Ian Weber