Scientific Name:   Cardinalis cardinalis

Length:   8.3-9.1 in (21-23 cm)

Weight:   1.5-1.7 oz (42-48 g)

Wingspan:   9.8-12.2 in (25-31 cm)

Nest:   The nest is well hidden in dense shrubs, vines, or low trees, placed 3-10' above ground, sometimes higher, and is an open cup made of twigs, weeds, grass, bark strips, leaves, rootlets, lined with fine grass or hair.

Eggs:   3-4, sometimes 2-5. Whitish to pale bluish or greenish white, marked with brown, purple, and gray. Incubation is almost always by female alone, 12-13 days.

Feeding Behavior:   Looks for food mostly while hopping on ground or in low bushes, sometimes higher in trees. Readily comes to bird feeders, where it favors sunflower seeds. Eats an assortment of insects, including beetles, true bugs, grasshoppers, caterpillars, ants, flies, and many others, also spiders, centipedes, and snails.

Young:   Both parents feed nestlings. Young leave nest about 9-11 days after hatching. Male may feed fledglings while female begins next nesting attempt.

Range:   Northern cardinals are numerous across the eastern United States from the southern half of Maine to Minnesota to the Texas-Mexico border and in Canada in the southern portions of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, all the way east to Cape Breton Island. Its range also extends south through Mexico.

Brief Description:   The adult male is a brilliant crimson red color with a black face mask over the eyes, extending to the upper chest. The color becomes duller and darker on the back and wings. The female is fawn-colored, with mostly grayish-brown tones and a slight reddish tint on the wings, crest, and tail feathers. The face mask of the female is gray to black and is less defined than that of the male. Both sexes possess prominent raised crests and bright coral-colored beaks.