Northern Cardinal | One of the MOST ADMIRED Birds

One of the most admired backyard birds of North America, the Northern Cardinal is thought to be more responsible than any other bird for getting people to open up a field guide. They have even been selected as the state bird of seven states.

What do male and female Northern Cardinals look like?
With their unforgettable bold red plumage, male Northern Cardinals are quite the sight to behold. However striking though, let us not lose sight of the subdued females. Both sexes have a black face with a red-orange bill, they measure between 8 and 9 inches and weigh 1 ½ to close to 2 ounces. Cardinals have a long tail, a large bill that is thick and short, and a charming crest

Where to find a Northern Cardinal
Habitats such as forest edges that have dense shrubs, marshy thickets, Fields that are overgrown, hedgerows, regrowing forest, and areas that have ornamental landscaping.

What bird food do Northern Cardinals like to eat?
Northern Cardinals like to eat black oil sunflower seeds, hulled sunflower seeds, safflower,, cracked corn, peanut hearts, and millet.

What does a Northern Cardinal sound like (call and song)
Three widespread categories of songs are commonly described as what cheer, cheer, cheer ; cheer, cheer, what what what what; and birdie, birdie, birdie. The most commonly heard calls of Northern Cardinals are chip calls, other calls are names chuck, chitter, took, chatter and pfitt

Northern Cardinal Nest
In trees and shrubs such as dogwood, hawthorn, spruce, pines, rose bushes, elms, and maples are readily used, and the nest is built in the fork of a tree or shrub around 1 to 15 ft high. . A cup that has four layers is constructed by the female: and can take anywhere from a few days to almost two weeks to complete. Anywhere from 2 - 5 eggs are laid. It takes around two weeks for the eggs to hatch, and the babies are usually ready to fledge around a week and a half to 2 weeks later.

Bald headed Northern Cardinal
Their striking appearance takes a complete change in late summer after they are done raising babies. Some birds lose head and neck feathers leaving them virtually bald. More often than not this is just the normal molting process and will return to normal in a couple weeks

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:22 What does it mean when you see a Northern Cardinal
00:32 Where are Northern Cardinals located (Range Map)
01:14 What does a Male and Female Northern Cardinal look like
02:06 Other birds that look similar to the Northern Cardinal
02:32 Where to find a Northern Cardinal
02:56 What type of bird food does a Northern Cardinal like
04:00 What does a Northern Cardinal sound like (calls/songs)
05:12 Northern Cardinal Courtship
05:30 Northern Cardinal Nest, Eggs, Babies, Brood, etc
07:26 Why does a Northern Cardinal have a bald head
08:00 Northern Cardinal Population, Numbers, and conservation

Videos/photos from the following (A-Z):

Backyard Beauty NH

Birds Walking Down

FWoltman

John Benedict

Joseph Luong

Nature with Mar

OvenBirder98

The Bird Garden Channel

Xiao Hu Photography

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Photos and videos from other websites:
The individuals' names can be found on their respective photos/videos (licenses below)

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#LesleytheBirdNerd #NorthernCardinal #Birds #Birdwatching

[LesleytheBirdNerd]

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[floydmorrison]

After recently discovering your videos, I've begun taking a bag of sunflower seeds on my daily hikes. I inadvertently discovered a pair of chickadees always hanging out in the same place each day, and realized that the 10ft high dead tree stump there were standing on was their nest cavity, with a small entrance hole at the very top. So every day I'd leave a little pile of seeds at the base of the stump, and the next day the pile had turned into a pile of empty shells. One time when I was leaving seeds, one of the chickadees flew down and landed on my palm, chirped, and began eating right out of my hands! I was so shocked that I said "oh my god, HI LENTIL! That's a good boy!" I didn't know what else to call him, and the name 'Lentil' came into my head because of your 'Lentil'! So I hope you don't mind me co-opting your Chickadee's name. There's now another Chickadee in Connecticut named Lentil, who eats out of somebody's hand each day! Thank you for your wonderful videos!

[gerryfedde]

When I was a kid in the 1940's, I lived in a small urban community within sight of the New York skyline. At that time, cardinals were considered a rarity - maybe not ivory bill rare - but well beyond "unusual." When I was maybe nine or ten I remember walking into town on a spring day and seeing this red fluff of feathers preening itself on a branch of a London Plane tree. That was my first cardinal and the image and delight at seeing this bird has remained etched in my memory ever since.

[salmonidae]

My neighbourhood has lots of cardinals in it. Every spring/summer day, I can hear their clear song along with the robins, mourning doves, chipping sparrows, and the blue jays. Truly one of my favourite birds.

[Lonesome__Dove]

Me and my grandma used to sit in her kitchen or in her yard talking, drinking coffee and watching the birds. Cardinals were always there. She used to tell me the Cardinals are your loved ones that passed visiting you. Now my grandmas passed and everyday i watch the Cardinals and thibk of her and our conversations. ❤

[natalietaylor]

The Northern Cardinal is the mascot for my college, Ball State University! The northern cardinal is a fierce bird during breeding season, especially when they're around bird feeders, and are adorable to watch.

[DarkNinja-]

Cardinal parents are so brave. They once nested in our backyard and chased away a crow intruder that's more than six times their size.

[TonniAtay]

I moved from the desert Southwest, to Oklahoma 8 years ago, and Cardinals are my favorite part.
We get a lot of them in fall and winter. They look so beautiful, and stand out against a snowy background.

[lindamiller]

I have loved cardinals since I was a child in illinois. Happiest memory - a male cardinal singing his heart out in the middle of a winter blizzard - he was in the plum tree in our back yard. I was 10 years old and have never forgotten those precious moments I stood in the heavy blowing snow and watched him sing - I thought he was singing to me! Adorable!

[valerielinares]

I live in and tend to stay in the desert southwest of the US. Once, many years ago while i was on a road trip with my family, we stopped at a rest stop. While walking around, and stopping to look into the brush, i spotted a beautiful, bright red cardinal just hanging out in a bush. That's the only one i can ever remember seeing in real life.

[wleon]

When you think about it, nature is wonderous with all the different animals. birds and marine life on our planet.

[gracerodgers]

A couple of neighborhood kids and I were admiring a wood nymph butterfly a while back, kids took a pic and left, then a cardinal swooped in and ate it! Fancy breakfast, Mr.Cardinal.🦋

[operator]

I have Cardinals in my backyard they are awesome to look at. Cardinals are my wife’s favorite.

[wizardoffrobozz]

what i remember most about Cardinals from my childhood. They seem so present in the moment. alert, intelligent, analytical. almost felt like we should talk to them. lol. i was little.

[coins.]

I believe that they are spirit birds. They are so pretty and they stand out in the fall sunlight.

[billgrindler]

Interestingly while watching this video, i heard my resident Cardinals singing outside.

[AlexandraStubbs]

I adore Northern Cardinal’s SO much, they are my favorite bird couple. I’m from Texas so they are common backyard birds.

[terrilynnallen]

My favorite wild bird. One day I took a picture of a male cardinal and a young bunny looking at each other. It was so cute and to get a picture is a bonus.

[melodyluvsherhobbies]

Cardinals are our state bird in West Virginia…we see lots of them at our feeders! They are beautiful!❤️

[mrpearl]

We have had the same two for the past few years and they have brought a number of offspring into the neighborhood ! They hang at the feeders and get an occasional peanut as well ! Blessed to have them 🙏