The northern cardinal is a beautiful songbird. It does not migrate. The male has bright red feathers and the female has buff-colored feathers with tinges of red on crest and wings. Both sexes have prominent crests and red bills.

A distictive behavior of this species is that the male will feed the female during courtship. They are aggressive birds and occupy territories year-round.

Northern cardinals are found in sheltered backyards, woodland edges, thickets and parks.

The geographic range for this bird includes states east of the Dakotas and Kansas and all states south and east of Minnesota including Texas.

The northern cardinal has over 2 dozen different songs. The most common, and the one I heard was, "What cheer! What cheer! What cheer!"

The diet includes seeds and insects.

2002. Laurie Hanson.

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Last Updated -August 12, 2016

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