Northern Cardinals are a medium-sized songbird with short, rounded wings.
They are about 9 inches in length, they have a long tail, a heavy conical bill, and a crest. They are beautiful birds and most birdwatchers love to have them come to their feeders.
ABOUT THE MALE CARDINAL
Males are nearly all brilliant red. The coral red bill is surrounded by a mask of black that extends to a dark eye and includes the chin and throat. Legs and feet are dark red.
ABOUT THE FEMALE CARDINAL
The female is soft grayish brown on the back with variable areas of red on the tail, crest, and wings. The underparts are a warm pinkish brown. A female Cardinal’s coral red bill is also surrounded by darker but not black feathers, so her mask is not as distinct as the male’s.
Females are slightly smaller than males.
The adult Cardinal food consist of insects, spiders, wild fruits, berries, and weed seeds. Preferring to perch while feeding at bird feeders, the ideal cardinal bird feeder is the hopper style and the window hopper pictured to the right is the perfect feeder for Cardinals.
Two seed types that these birds like are, Black-oil sunflower seed and safflower seed.