Northern Cardinal aka Red Bird

I’m sure most of you have try out the video game “Angry Birds” games (or at least heard of before). Now, there is the bird expert gave his closest approximation to the character of red bird!

 

Who am I?

Scientific name as Cardinalis cardinalis, the Northern Cardinal, aka Red Bird. The bright red male northern cardinal, with its conspicuous crest, is one of the most recognizable birds in North America.

 

What I Loves to Eat?

Northern Cardinals eat mainly seeds and fruit, supplementing these with insects (and feeding nestlings mostly insects). Common fruits and seeds include dogwood, wild grape, buckwheat, grasses, sedges, mulberry, hackberry, blackberry, sumac, tulip-tree, and corn. Cardinals eat many kinds of birdseed, particularly black oil sunflower seed. They also eat beetles, crickets, katydids, leafhoppers, cicadas, flies, centipedes, spiders, butterflies, and moths.

 

Where do I Stay?

Look for Northern Cardinals in dense shrubby areas such as forest edges, overgrown fields, hedgerows, backyards, marshy thickets, mesquite, regrowing forest, and ornamental landscaping. Cardinals nest in dense foliage and look for conspicuous, fairly high perches for singing. Growth of towns and suburbs across eastern North America has helped the cardinal expand its range northward.

 

My Identity?

The male cardinal fiercely defends its breeding territory from other males. When a male sees its reflection in glass surfaces, it frequently will spend hours fighting the imaginary intruder. Their strong beaks help them dig for insects in bushes and bite into tasty seeds, grains and fruits. The females build nests using grass, twigs and bits of shrubs. They build their nests in the middle of thick bushes, which offer them protection from predators such as cats, dogs, snakes, owls, chipmunks, squirrels and brown-headed cow birds. When predators get too close to the nests, both male and female cardinals give a shrill chirp to scare them away. Each year, female cardinals lay three eggs on average, but can hatch up to five.

These song birds communicate through calls and songs. Males use a combination of singing and fluffing their feathers to attract a female’s attention. Mating couples often sing a similar song of whistles together.

 

Fast Facts

Type: Bird

Diet: Omnivore

Average life span in the wild: 15 years

Size: 8 to 9 in (21 to 23cm)

Weight: 1.5 to 1.8 oz (42 to 51 g)

Did you know? Unlike many songbirds, both male and female cardinals sing, and the female often vocalizes with song from her nest.                                              

Size relative to a tea cup:

Video: How does Northern Cardinal sounds?

àClick the video below for the answer!!