Cardinal

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The beautiful red male cardinal has the distinction of being the birds of the most states – Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, North Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia.   It can be found across the eastern half of the United States and down into Mexico.  Although less showy, the brown females sport a sharp crest and warm red accents.  The hatchlings are naked except for sparse tufts of grayish down with eyes closed.

If you have a feeder, it is easy to attract Cardinals, they favor sunflower seeds.  They may nest nearby in a fork of small branches in a tree, shrub or vine tangle.  The female mostly builds the nest – the first layer is twigs, then lined with grapevine bark and finally grasses, stems and pine needles.  The nest takes 3-9 days to build and is 2-3 inches tall and 4 inches across holding 2-5 eggs.  The eggs take 11-13 days to hatch, and the babies stay in the nest from 7-13 days.

On their own, Cardinals eat mainly seeds and fruit, supplementing these with insects.  Cardinals are very territorial and will attack their reflection in a window, car mirror or shiny bumper.  This occurs most often in early spring and summer during breeding season.  The oldest recorded Cardinal was a female at 15 years, 9 months.  Cardinals adapt well to people and are in no danger of extinction.

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