Northern Cardinal | One of the MOST ADMIRED Birds

One of the most admired backyard birds of North America, the Northern Cardinal is thought to be more responsible than any other bird for getting people to open up a field guide. They have even been selected as the state bird of seven states.

What do male and female Northern Cardinals look like?
With their unforgettable bold red plumage, male Northern Cardinals are quite the sight to behold. However striking though, let us not lose sight of the subdued females. Both sexes have a black face with a red-orange bill, they measure between 8 and 9 inches and weigh 1 ½ to close to 2 ounces. Cardinals have a long tail, a large bill that is thick and short, and a charming crest

Where to find a Northern Cardinal
Habitats such as forest edges that have dense shrubs, marshy thickets, Fields that are overgrown, hedgerows, regrowing forest, and areas that have ornamental landscaping.

What bird food do Northern Cardinals like to eat?
Northern Cardinals like to eat black oil sunflower seeds, hulled sunflower seeds, safflower,, cracked corn, peanut hearts, and millet.

What does a Northern Cardinal sound like (call and song)
Three widespread categories of songs are commonly described as what cheer, cheer, cheer ; cheer, cheer, what what what what; and birdie, birdie, birdie. The most commonly heard calls of Northern Cardinals are chip calls, other calls are names chuck, chitter, took, chatter and pfitt

Northern Cardinal Nest
In trees and shrubs such as dogwood, hawthorn, spruce, pines, rose bushes, elms, and maples are readily used, and the nest is built in the fork of a tree or shrub around 1 to 15 ft high. . A cup that has four layers is constructed by the female: and can take anywhere from a few days to almost two weeks to complete. Anywhere from 2 - 5 eggs are laid. It takes around two weeks for the eggs to hatch, and the babies are usually ready to fledge around a week and a half to 2 weeks later.

Bald headed Northern Cardinal
Their striking appearance takes a complete change in late summer after they are done raising babies. Some birds lose head and neck feathers leaving them virtually bald. More often than not this is just the normal molting process and will return to normal in a couple weeks

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:22 What does it mean when you see a Northern Cardinal
00:32 Where are Northern Cardinals located (Range Map)
01:14 What does a Male and Female Northern Cardinal look like
02:06 Other birds that look similar to the Northern Cardinal
02:32 Where to find a Northern Cardinal
02:56 What type of bird food does a Northern Cardinal like
04:00 What does a Northern Cardinal sound like (calls/songs)
05:12 Northern Cardinal Courtship
05:30 Northern Cardinal Nest, Eggs, Babies, Brood, etc
07:26 Why does a Northern Cardinal have a bald head
08:00 Northern Cardinal Population, Numbers, and conservation
09:24 Ending / lesleythebirdnerd.com

Videos/photos from the following (A-Z):

Backyard Beauty NH
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxmRa_Uf3reOS__1GQVLqxw
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/Backyard.Beauty.NH
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/backyard.beauty.nh/?hl=en

Birds Walking Down
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM1MRkNtqulXq0NlVo2FpUQ
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BirdsWalkingDown
Website: https://birds.walkingdown.com/

FWoltman
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fwoltman/

John Benedict
Website: https://www.johnbenedict-photography.com

Joseph Luong
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/luong_minh_anh/albums/with/72157718847706623

Nature with Mar
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/people/132128284@N02/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naturewithmar/

OvenBirder98
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWfFtaMikTlbdxil2HY_1KQ/featured
Website: https://miottawa.org/Parks/birding.htm
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LP0ngTKZqE

The Bird Garden Channel
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvEu-L6xTsdmrH5Z_afxi8w

Xiao Hu Photography
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwYltZfggpbo6maM5v7hzEg/videos

Thumbnail: Photo portion of Cardinal only by Jun Zhou via Canva.com/pro
Background was changed

Photos and videos from other websites:
The individuals' names can be found on their respective photos/videos (licenses below)
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