Photo © 2005 Jim Jung and licensors. All rights reserved.

Cardinals

Cardinals are probably the most popular state bird in America.

These bright red grosbeaks sometimes manage to raise three broods a season in our area and are common visitors to bird feeders.

Their diet also includes berries, and they incorporate the red pigment of the berries they eat into their feathers. Without Dogwood berries (and similar red fruits) our Cardinals would go from bright, startling red to drab brown in a matter of weeks.

Cardinals are non-migratory and therefore year round residents. However they form small flocks in late fall and winter and apparently travel about their local area seeking seeds and renewing family ties. By late winter theses flocks break up and the individual birds pair off and establish breeding territories. Look for their nests in dense vegetation. Most nests are fairly low to the ground (6-12 feet) though there are reports of nests being found much higher (up to 60 feet).

Cardinals were originally savanna inhabitants (which is why they're such successful suburban birds) and as a result they're not (usually) parasitized by Cowbirds. While Cowbirds lay eggs in Cardinal nests the birds seem to be able to discriminate between their own eggs and those of the Cowbirds which are summarily discarded.

Offsite links:

• Cornell University's Northern Cardinal page
• Illinois Aubobon Society's Northern Cardinal page
• The chapter on Cardinals from the electronic book Life Histories of Familiar North American Birds.

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