What better bird to brighten the grey days of winter than the brilliant red and sweetly singing Northern Cardinal, our December Bird of the Month. Cardinals are common visitors to our backyards and have adapted well to living near people, but that was not always true in our region. Originally a bird of southern North America, the Northern Cardinal has been expanding northward over the past century and a half. The first cardinal in southern Minnesota was spotted in 1875 and it wasn’t until the 1930s that their range reached the Twin Cities. Today cardinals are knocking on the door of Duluth, and it won’t be long before they establish residency there. The range of the northern cardinal has expanded northward as winter temperatures have warmed, aided by bird feeding and the creation of favorable habitat in urban areas. The Northern Cardinal is the state bird of seven states, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia, more states than any other bird. They are now common throughout the eastern U.S. and can also be found in Hawaii, California, Arizona, New Mexico and the island of Bermuda, where they were likely introduced as caged birds in the early 20th century.

Cardinals are monogamous and mate for life. The oldest bird so far recorded was a banded male that was still alive when recaptured and released at age 15 years. Unusual for songbirds, both male and female cardinals sing. During breeding season, male cardinals may sing 200 or more songs per hour in the early morning hours. A mated female will often duet with her mate. Her songs also communicate to the more conspicuous male when it’s safe to visit the nest and when its best to stay away so that the nest location is not revealed. Cardinals have a very low nesting success rate, with only 15-35% of their nests succeeding in fledging young…but they make up for this by nesting continuously throughout the spring and summer, raising as many as three broods of young from March through late August.

Although we think of cardinals as mostly seed eaters, at certain times of year up to 75% of their diet consists of fruit, berries, and insects. Like many birds, cardinals turn to insects in the spring when seeds are scarcer and when the protein from insects is needed to feed growing babies. Studies have revealed that 80% of cardinals’ winter diet consists of seeds and other vegetal matter, dropping to a low of 35% by the middle of the summer when they are busy consuming large insects like beetles, grasshoppers and crickets. Male cardinals get their crimson red color from eating fruits high in carotenoids like wild grape, blackberries, hackberries, mulberries, sumac, and dogwood berries. This is especially true during fall when they are molting and growing new feathers. This ability to readily switch among different food sources throughout the year allows cardinals to remain in the same area year around, rather than migrating to find food.

While Northern Cardinals will use many types of feeders, they prefer foraging on the ground instead of perching high in feeders. Ground feeders, tray feeders and fly-through feeders are the best for cardinals, especially if situated close to the ground and they can see or fly through the feeder to escape predators. They will visit feeders any time of day but are most active at dawn and dusk and will often be the first and last birds to visit each day. At feeders, cardinals especially adore black oil sunflower seeds and seem to enjoy cracking open the shells. They also are attracted to safflower (especially Nutra-Saff or “golden safflower”), sunflower chips, striped sunflower seeds, and cracked corn. Seeds are a great source of fat and energy, but a poor source of carotenoids, so during fall molting, cardinals may disappear from feeders for a few weeks while they gorge on dark purple and red berries. To increase your chances of seeing cardinals year around, plant some of these berry-producing shrubs and trees in your yard and leave the berries and seeds on the plants through the fall and early winter.

We’d love to see your photos and videos of Northern Cardinals throughout the month, share them with us in-store or on our Facebook!