Discover 15 cardinal facts for kids about red feathers, songs, nests, favorite foods, winter behavior, habitats, lifespan, and identifying these birds.
Cardinals are loud, bright, year-round neighbors across much of North America. Here are 15 checked facts about how cardinals look, sing, eat, and survive the winter without ever flying south. Every fact below has been checked against the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and current bird taxonomy.
15 cardinal facts
- Cardinals have a whole family named after them. Cardinals belong to the family Cardinalidae, which holds about 53 species, including grosbeaks, buntings, and the bright tanagers in the genus Piranga.
- The Northern Cardinal is the famous one. The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is the species most people picture. It lives from southeastern Canada across the eastern United States and south into Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala, and people also introduced it to Bermuda, Hawaii, and parts of southern California.
- No other bird is a state bird this often. The Northern Cardinal is the official state bird of seven states: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. No other species holds the title in more states.
- The name comes from a red robe. The word cardinal comes from the Latin cardinalis, meaning principal or chief. The bird’s brilliant red plumage reminded people of the red robes worn by Catholic cardinals.
- Males and females look different. Males are brilliant red with a black face mask. Females are warm grayish-brown with red touches on the wings, crest, and tail, and a grayer, softer mask. Both wear a pointed crest and a thick coral-red bill.
- Cardinals never migrate. Cardinals stay in their home range all year, so a red bird against fresh snow is a normal winter sight long after other songbirds have flown south.
- Seeds are the main meal. Up to about 90 percent of an adult cardinal’s diet is seeds, grain, and fruit. They also eat insects and snails, and nestlings are fed almost entirely on insects.
- That thick bill is a seed cracker. The strong, cone-shaped bill is built for cracking hard seed shells. It is why cardinals love backyard feeders stocked with black-oil sunflower seeds and safflower seeds.
- Pairs feed each other. Northern Cardinals are usually monogamous, and pairs often stay together through the year. During courtship a male passes seeds beak-to-beak to the female, a behavior called mate feeding.
- Mated pairs sing matching phrases. Each cardinal learns a repertoire of song types, and neighborhoods develop their own local dialects. A mated pair often shares phrases and answers each other back and forth across the yard.
- Female cardinals sing too. Female cardinals are among the relatively few female songbirds in North America known for singing. A female often sings from the nest, and her song can be a little longer and more complex than her mate’s.
- Most cardinals live about three years. The average is roughly three years, pulled down by how risky the first year is: most young cardinals do not survive it. Adults that make it through can live far longer.
- They will fight their own reflection. Cardinals defend their territory fiercely in spring. A male may attack a window, mirror, or hubcap for days because he sees a rival male staring back.
- The record holder lived almost 16 years. The oldest wild Northern Cardinal known to science was a female banded in Pennsylvania that lived at least 15 years and 9 months. Cardinals in captivity have reached about 28 years.
- Only one other cardinal lives in North America. The Pyrrhuloxia, or desert cardinal (Cardinalis sinuatus), is the second Cardinalis species in North America, living in the Southwest and Mexico. The third species, the Vermilion Cardinal (Cardinalis phoeniceus), lives in northern South America along the coasts of Colombia and Venezuela, not in North America.
How to tell cardinals apart
- Male Northern Cardinal: All-over brilliant red, black mask around a coral bill, tall crest. The bird most people mean when they say cardinal.
- Female Northern Cardinal: Warm grayish-brown body with red edges on wings, crest, and tail. Same shape and same coral bill, quieter colors, and she sings.
- Pyrrhuloxia (desert cardinal): Gray body with red trim and a stubby yellowish curved bill. Found in desert scrub in the American Southwest and Mexico.
How to attract cardinals to your yard
- Offer black-oil sunflower or safflower seeds in a platform or hopper feeder. Cardinals are heavy for tube perches.
- Feed at dawn and dusk. Cardinals are often the first birds at a feeder in the morning and the last to leave at night.
- Add dense shrubs or small evergreens. Cardinals nest low in thick cover and stay near it year-round.
- Keep fresh water available. A shallow bath or a heated bath in winter draws cardinals in even when seed is everywhere.
Cardinal questions kids ask
Why are male cardinals red?
Their red comes from carotenoid pigments in the fruits and seeds they eat. A male with a richer diet grows brighter feathers, which is one reason color matters to females choosing a mate.
Do cardinals migrate in winter?
No. Cardinals are year-round residents, which is why they are such a common sight at winter feeders and on holiday cards.
Are female cardinals red?
Not fully. Female cardinals are grayish-brown with red highlights on the wings, tail, and crest, plus the same coral-colored bill as the male.
Do cardinals mate for life?
Cardinal pairs are usually monogamous and many stay together through the year and into following seasons, though pairs do sometimes change.
What do cardinals eat?
Mostly seeds, grain, and fruit, with insects added in, especially during nesting season when parents feed their chicks almost entirely insects.
How long do cardinals live?
About three years on average, because the first year is dangerous for young birds. The oldest banded wild cardinal on record lived at least 15 years and 9 months.
Next time a cardinal lands on your fence, look for the crest, the coral bill, and the black mask, and listen for the pair singing back and forth. They will be there all winter long.