Northern Cardinal: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Bright Little Birds · day 4 of 7

Five facts

1. A male cardinal guards his patch fiercely. He can mistake his own reflection in a window for a rival and keep fighting it.
2. The male's red comes from pigments in his food. A few rare cardinals can't turn those pigments red, so they grow yellow feathers.
3. To build her nest, the female crushes twigs in her beak until they bend. Then she turns around inside and shapes the cup with her body and feet.
4. Cardinals can raise up to four broods a year. While the female sits on new eggs, the male looks after and feeds the chicks already out.
5. It is the official bird of seven US states, more than any other bird.

The quiz

1. What does a male cardinal sometimes fight?

• Falling leaves
• His own reflection (correct)
• The wind
• His own tail

He can take his reflection for an invading male and fight it.

2. Where does the male's red colour come from?

• Pigments in its food (correct)
• Rolling in red clay
• Sunburn
• Red dust from flowers

The red is made from carotenoid pigments in his diet.

3. How does the female shape her nest into a cup?

• She weaves it with spider silk only
• She digs a hole in the ground
• She bends twigs around her body and pushes with her feet (correct)
• She glues mud with saliva

She turns in the nest, bending twigs around her body and pushing them with her feet.

4. What does the male do while the female sits on the next eggs?

• He flies south alone
• He builds a second nest
• He sleeps all day
• He feeds and cares for the earlier chicks (correct)

He looks after each brood while she sits on the next eggs.

5. How many US states have the northern cardinal as their state bird?

• One
• Three
• Seven (correct)
• Fifty

It is the state bird of seven states, more than any other species.

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