🐾 Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal

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Who it is

• Scientific name: Cardinalis cardinalis
• Family & relatives: A songbird in the family Cardinalidae, related to grosbeaks, buntings, and tanagers.
• How to spot it: The male is bright red with a black face mask and a pointed crest; the female is soft tan with red touches.

Its body & abilities

• Size: About 21 to 23 cm long from head to tail.
• Weight: Light, around 42 to 48 grams.
• Body & adaptations: Its short, thick, cone-shaped beak is strong enough to crack tough seeds and shells with ease.
• Top speed: A nimble flier that can flit between trees at around 40 km/h.
• Strength: Its powerful little beak can crack hard sunflower seeds that many other birds cannot open.
• Senses: Sharp color vision for spotting food and mates, and keen hearing for its loud, clear songs.
• Growing up: Chicks hatch bare and helpless, open their eyes within days, and leave the nest in about nine to eleven days.

Where it lives

• Habitat: Woodland edges, gardens, parks, thickets, and backyards with plenty of shrubs.
• Where in the world: Eastern and central North America, from Canada down through the United States to Mexico and Central America.
• Territory: Males defend a nesting territory in spring, singing from high perches and chasing off rivals.

What it eats

• Diet: A mostly seed-eating omnivore that also eats fruit and insects and drinks from puddles and birdbaths.
• Favorite foods: Seeds, berries, and fruit, plus insects like beetles and caterpillars, especially to feed its chicks.
• How it hunts: It forages in shrubs and on the ground, cracking seeds with its beak and snapping up insects in summer.

How it behaves

• How it moves: Hops on the ground and flies in short bursts between bushes and trees.
• When it is active: Active by day, singing at dawn and often visiting feeders in the early morning and late afternoon.
• Family life: Lives in pairs or small family groups, and several may gather at feeders in winter.
• How it talks: Sings a clear, whistling song, and unusually both the male and the female sing to each other.
• Babies: The female builds a cup nest in a bush and lays about three or four eggs, warming them for around 12 days.

Its place in nature

• Role in nature: It helps spread seeds and eats pest insects; hawks, owls, cats, and snakes prey on cardinals.
• Conservation: Listed as Least Concern by the IUCN, common and even spreading into new areas.
• Dangers: Dies mainly from predators, window collisions, and harsh winter weather.

Life & legacy

• How long it lives: About 3 years on average in the wild, though some live 13 years or more.
• In our culture: A favorite backyard bird and the official state bird of seven U.S. states, cheered for its bright red color.
• Where to see it: Backyards, parks, and woodland edges across the eastern United States, easy to spot at winter feeders.
• Fun fact: The male cardinal stays bright red all year, so it stands out beautifully against winter snow.