Northern Cardinal - Ross Feldner

The star of many a holiday card, the Northern Cardinal is so popular it’s the U.S. state bird for 7 states; Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia, more than any other bird! Adding to its popularity is its combination of being conspicuous and its intense red colors.

Cardinals mainly eat seeds and fruit but will also eat insects. They use their large bill and tongue to get to seeds by cutting or crushing the shells.

Northern Cardinals, both male and female are fiercely territorial and will even attack their own image in glass surfaces, often for hours! They prefer building nests on the branches of dense bushes and shrubs.

Both parents feed the chicks a diet of insects. After the chicks learn to fly and leave the nest, the parents continue to feed them for 25 to 56 days.

In ancient Roman culture the cardinal was regarded as a spiritual messenger sent by those who died and went to heaven. The word cardinal comes from the Latin word meaning 'hinge.' The birds are therefore seen as hinges on the doorway between heaven and earth.