Male Cardinals - 10 Interesting Facts You Didn't Know

Male northern cardinals definitely have the spotlight when it comes to North American birds. They're beautiful and highly recognizable. Interestingly, their color can signal certain things about them - not just feather color but also beak color.

But beyond color, their mask size can be an indicator of the type of mate and father he will be.

Furthermore, while color plays a role in dominance, it is not the only factor. One interesting characteristic of how dominant a cardinal is is based on how close he is to his territory.

You might be surprised to find out that color may not play as high of a role in mate selection - however researchers are having a hard time studying that.

His call can also give neighboring cardinals information about himself - for instance, how new he might be to the territory.

And his call has been found to be more adaptable to surrounding environments compared to robins.

In the case of leucistic birds, many studies report their ability to still find mates with females of healthy plumage.

****Acknowledgements****
This is a special thank you to Scott Davis, Joseph McHugh Jr. and Jan Ador for their video and photo contributions of cardinals with leucism. Your contributions were beautiful and such a gem for this video. Thank you very much for your help.

At Nest Hollow, we are more interested in true bird conservation than profit. That means we are not going to misinform you about wild bird care in order to make an extra buck. We care about our native birds and want to share as much knowledge with you as we can.

Tell us what you love about Northern Cardinals - or if you live in a region where you don't get to see them very much, maybe share why you'd love to see one or your first time getting to see one in real life :)

***** Referenced Studies:

Gentry, K. M. (2015). Territorial defense strategies in the northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis): Who is the bigger threat?. The University of Southern Mississippi.

Jawor, J. M., & Breitwisch, R. (2004). Multiple ornaments in male northern cardinals, Cardinalis cardinalis, as indicators of condition. Ethology, 110(2), 113-126.

Lemon, R. E. (1975). How birds develop song dialects. The Condor, 77(4), 385-406.

Seger-Fullam, K. D., Rodewald, A. D., & Soha, J. A. (2011). Urban noise predicts song frequency in Northern Cardinals and American Robins. Bioacoustics, 20(3), 267-276.

Senar, Juan Carlos, G. E. Hill, and K. J. McGraw. "Color displays as intrasexual signals of aggression and dominance." Bird coloration 2 (2006): 87-136.

Wolfenbarger, L. L. (1999). Female mate choice in Northern Cardinals: is there a preference for redder males?. The Wilson Bulletin, 76-83.

Wolfenbarger, L. L. (1999). Is red coloration of male Northern Cardinals beneficial during the nonbreeding season?: a test of status signaling. The Condor, 101(3), 655-663.

Wolfenbarger, L. L. (1999). Red coloration of male northern cardinals correlates with mate quality and territory quality. Behavioral Ecology, 10(1), 80-90.

[lauramaltez]

I keep seeing them they fly all around my house and come in the morning to sing to me lol so I heard them at like 5am today then I fell back asleep and was dreaming with 2 or 3 cardinals came into my house and 1 landed on me it was awesome dream!

[fullypersuaded]

I’m sure I saw a leucistic cardinal a little while back- I saw a beautiful white and pink bird fly by me while I was driving and my kids and I researched and never figured it out. When I saw this footage I instantly remembered that encounter and it’s coloring looks like this! Absolutely beautiful!

[AndThatDontBotherYou]

Ever since I can remember from about 3-4 years old these 3 then 2 red Cardinal Birds followed me everywhere I moved. Now at age 40 I really only see one. I've recently learned that it's said to be our passed loved ones

[Philip_smith]

Great video. I take care of a group of 12 Cardinals in my yard. Beautiful bord.

[Unlimited]

Such a beautiful, vibrant and dramatic bird. We were fortunate to have pair settle in our area. I always look forward to seeing them and hearing them sing every year.

Thank your educating the public about birds. Very informative with great video clips.

[jameslomenzo]

They have a beautiful song, I've been feeding them black oil sunflower seed all winter.
They seem to show up morning, evening. Old saying or myth' if you see a cardinal show up it's a loved one that's passed on. Thanks for amazing video as always.

[AntonioC-cvsi]

I love birds, and Cardinals, Blue Jays, Pigeons, Cockatiels, Parakeets and Mockingbirds are my favorites. There's a nice park behind the building where i live and in that park during the years I've seen a great selection of birds: Blue Jays, Robins, Catbirds, Red winged Blackbirds, Cardinals, Mockingbirds, Mourning Doves, Pheasants (long disappeared), Hawks, Starlings and Song Sparrrows. Recently i saw a Yellow Warbler, very beautiful little birds. I even saw once a Woodpecker, a Northern Fleecker, and also a rare sight of a pair of Black and White Warblers. That's why i enjoy going to that park every time i can. I enjoy watching and hearing the beautiful little ones. I've also seen there acuatic birds like: Swans, Egrets, Mallards, Canadian Gooses and Seagulls.

[baneverything]

I`ve captured some great pictures of the pair that live in my yard and their babies with trail cameras. They come to the feeder immediately when I call them.

[rebeccagrace]

DESPERATE QUESTION MAYBE YOU CAN HELP!!!🙏🏾😢 : I have a pair of older loyal cardinals. And a hawk building a nest too close for comfort. Today is April 21st... she has been gone for over a week and he has been out there around the property ALL day. At times His "song" almost sounds like a grieving cry though. (Or is he just tired from being all that singing?) I've been crying thinking the hawk got her. I JUST remembered it's egg time🙄duh. So, I guess my question is, does the male cardinal have a grieving song? Like, what will he do if his mate disappears? There ARE other younger males he recently scared off AND when I go out to check on him he flys to another tree and continues to "cry/call/sing".

[johnspears]

I have a family of them outside my apartment. I was sitting outside the other day and one of the babies landed on the foot rest. He hung out for a while, and the dad was hanging around keeping an eye on me but I felt like he trusted me because he just kept his distance and let me and the little one hang out.

[LunaChriscoe]

I saw a red bird on my play group and then it looked at me and then flew away ❤😊😮