Northern Cardinals Feeding In My Backyard

Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) -- more commonly known as red cardinals, or just cardinals -- are among the most frequent visitors to my backyard bird feeders throughout the year.

These lovely mid-sized perching songbirds can be found year-round throughout most of eastern and central North America from southeastern Canada across all parts of the United States east of the Mississippi River, as far west as Minnesota and Southern California, and south into Mexico and much of Central America.

The Northern Cardinal is the official state bird of various U.S States: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia.

The following are photo I've taken of these birds near the end of August 2024 in my back yard. The male cardinal is red with black and the female is brown and tan.

It should also be noted that the female has no problem sharing sunflower seeds with the other birds -- particularly the Chickadees that also frequent my feeder -- while the males seem to prefer eating alone.