The Northern Cardinal

Name and Habitat 

     The Northern Cardinal is found from southern Canada through the eastern United States. During the summer the norther cardinal is a resident from southeastern Canada, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Maine southward through southern Florida and Mexico to Belize and Guatemala. Also locally in Arizona, California, and New Mexico and has been introduced to Hawaii and Bermuda.  The Northern cardinal is found is woodlands, gardens, shrublands, and swamps. The northern cardinal does not migrate so it stays in the northern hemisphere year round. This is the northern cardinal's scientific classification     

Domain: Eukaryote  

                                Kingdom: Animalia 

                                                               Class: Ave  

                                                                               Phylum: Chordata 

                                             Order: Passeriformes  

            Family: Cardinalidae  

                                            Genus: Cardinalis

                                                                        Species: Cardinalis. The Northern cardinal was named by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 called Cardinalis Virginianus which means "Virginia Cardinal".  The Virginia Cardinal was then changed to Cardinalis Cardinalis for confusion for other Cardinalis terms. The northern cardinal common name came from the Roman Catholic Church.  The people of the Roman Catholic Church wore red shirts and caps and were in the northern hemisphere. Like the picture below the (male) northern is all red and is the only cardinal that lives in the northern hemisphere. link to birds pictures

                                            Description

          The northern cardinal is 8 to 9 inches high ( 21cm to 23cm. high).   The wingspan of this bird is 10 to 12 inches long ( 25 to 31 cm long).  The northern cardinal weights 1.48 ounces to 1.69 ounces ( 42-48 g ).  This midsize songbirds have a large crest on their head and heavy, conical red bill.  The northern cardinal's face is surrounded by black.  Although the male is a bright red the female is a grayish-tan with red tail and wings.

                                                                          Food and Reproduction   

          The northern cardinal eats seeds, fruits, bugs, and insects.  They are hunted by Owls, hawks, raccoon and red fox.  They are common at bird feeders, especially at dawn and dusk when they forage.  Their nest is an open bowl of weed stems and twigs, filled with leaves and grapevine bark.  The nest is lined with grass and often contains paper or plastic in outer layer.  The nest is placed in thick tangle of vines or twigs in a shrub or small tree, 3-20 feet above ground, usually below 10 feet.  The egg is white with brown spots like the picture to the right.                                                                                    link to the egg.

The egg is 22.4-27.9 mm x 16.9-19.6 mm. (0.88-1.1 in x 0.67-0.77 in).  The egg incubates for 11-13 days.  The cardinal lays 1-5 eggs but usually lays 3 eggs.

Other names

The northern cardinal's name in French is Cardinal rouge.  The northern cardinals' name in Spanish are Cardenal rojo, Cardenal norteño, Cardenal común.

    Fun facts

•  The female Northern Cardinal sings, often from the nest. The song may give the male information about when to bring food to the nest. A mated pair shares song phrases, but the female may sing a longer and slightly more harder song than the male.
• The male cardinal fiercely defends its breeding territory from other males. When a male sees its reflection in a glass surface, it frequently will spend hours fighting the imaginary intruder.
• Brighter red males hold territories with denser vegetation, feed at higher rates, and have greater reproduction success than duller males.
• Population density and range of the Northern Cardinal has increased over the last 200 years, largely as a response to habitat changes made by people. However, it is listed as a species of special concern in California and may disappear there because of habitat loss.

Here are some videos of the Northern cardinals

www.youtube.com/watch                                                                         www.youtube.com/watch

Bibliography for Northern Cardinal

All About Birds :Northern Cardinal 2003 http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/Northern_Cardinal_dtl.html#similar

northern cardinal -wikipedia, the free encyclopedia February 17, 2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Cardinal

 ADW: Cardinalis Cardinalis Infomation Dewey, T., J. Crane and K. Kirschbaum. 2001 <http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Cardinalis_cardinalis.html>

Northern Cardinal Jim Roezel February 1,2009  <http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/northern_cardinal.htm>

Vermilion Cardinal

the Vermilion Cardinal is found in Colombia and Venezuela.  It resigns in the subtropical or tropical dry shrubland. The Vermilion Cardinal is not conerned for becoming extinct.

 vermilion cardinal picture

Bibliography for Vermilion Cardinal

Vermilion cardinal -wikipedia, the free encyclopedia february 4,2009 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermilion_Cardinal