Attracting Cardinals (6602)

Cardinals are the most popular of all songbirds. The male cardinals are famous for their brilliant red feathers and crested heads. Female cardinals are also quite striking, but in a more subtle way, as their feathers have a rosy color.

Cardinals are not shy about taking food from a feeder. They’re usually the first birds at the feeder in the morning and the last ones to feed at dusk.

During midday, keep your ears open to the songs of cardinals. These birds love to sing. Listen for the warm, soft songs of the female bird. These in turn, are repeated more strongly by her mate. If she changes her tune, her mate will follow with the same, new melody. Sometimes you may even hear the birds serenading each other at the same time.

At the feeder, male cardinals will often fight other birds for the seed; they’ll even fight their own mates. But the possessive male cardinal will eventually relent and allow other birds to feed. It is interesting that, as the breeding season approaches in March, the domineering mood of the male cardinal changes toward its mate as far as feeding goes. In fact, you may see the male cardinal in the late winter shuck seeds out of sunflower shells for the female and then feed her as she lowers her head back to receive the seed, much like baby birds do when they are fed by their parents.

As for feeding strategies, cardinals prefer to be fed from feeders that are about 4-6 feet high. They prefer the more steady, stationary feeders rather than hanging feeders. Cardinals enjoy ground feeding. If they’re not visiting your feeder, try scattering feed on the ground.

Cardinals love sunflower seeds, especially the solid black, oil-type sunflower seeds. They will sometimes scratch their way through an entire seed mix to get every sunflower seed before eating the other seeds. Cardinals will also eat safflower seeds and white proso millet when sunflower seeds are not available.

Cardinals do not migrate. Although they tend to wander in the winter, seldom do they fly more than a few miles from their nest. Since cardinals do not migrate, if you establish a home landscape that is attractive to these birds, you could have a cardinal family live in your yard for many years.

Cardinals, like most birds, prefer their home surroundings to have a mixture of evergreen and deciduous trees in the area. They’ll often nest in shrubs or thickets that face an open lawn. Recommended plants for nesting include viburnum, raspberry, elderberry, hackberry, sour cherry, dogwood, grape, and hawthorn.

For more information on this subject, Please visit the College of Agricultural Sciences Publications Web site.

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