Northern Cardinal
The conical shape of the cardinal's beak marks this bird as a seed eater. The Northern Cardinal's diet consists of fruits, seeds and insects. For a seed eating bird, the Northern Cardinal eats a remarkable number of insects, especially during the breeding season.
Cardinals are known to eat over a hundred kinds of fruits and seeds in the wild. Attractive garden plants include brambles, sumac, cherry, dogwood, grape, mulberry, blueberry, elderberry, tulip tree, hackberry, and Russian olive. Many of these plants are also used for nesting.
At the feeding station, they prefer unhulled sunflower seeds over all other foods. They will also eat safflower, cracked corn, white proso millet, bread, nutmeats and peanut butter mixes.
Cardinals prefer brushy woodlands, streamside thickets, orchards, swamps, suburban gardens and parks. They like to roost and nest in dense thickets, evergreens and privet hedges.
The male cardinal is all red with a large crest and a black mask around a bright orange bill. Female is brownish on chest and back with reddish wings and tail, blackish face and orange bill.
Both males and females sing a song consisting of clear, varying slurred whistles, "whoit whoit whoit, chew chew chew." Call note is a metallic "chip."
In many species of songbirds, males sing to attract mates and defend territories. However, cardinals are among the few species in which females regularly sing.
