--- title: "Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "A red songbird that turns yellow food pigments into scarlet feathers." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/northern-cardinal-1.webp" published: "2026-09-29" updated: "2026-09-29" --- # Northern Cardinal (*Cardinalis cardinalis*) > **Status**: Checked against 6 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: A red songbird that turns yellow food pigments into scarlet feathers. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: Slowcore & Minimal Indie // Low, "Words" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/01OXa5tVuCssU6j8TY7kxr) > **Vibe Match**: Both male and female northern cardinals sing, and mates share most or all of their songs. Low built its songs around a married couple, Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker, singing the same lines in close harmony. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Cardinalis cardinalis* - **Danger Level**: Low - **Conservation Status**: Least Concern ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2018-2.rlts.t22723819a132024136.en)) - **Superpower**: Turns yellow food pigments into red feathers - **Habitat**: Woodland edges, hedgerows and thickets in eastern and central North America, plus gardens with feeders - **Diet**: Weed seeds, grains, fruit and insects - **Tags**: bird, woodland, colorful, omnivore ## Natural History & Behavior ## Red is a recipe Male northern cardinals are brilliant red. Females are mostly grayish tan, with red on the wings, tail and crest. That red is not made from scratch. It comes from carotenoids, pigments the bird eats, changes chemically inside its body and deposits in new feathers while it molts, which is when it swaps old feathers for fresh ones. Colour may carry a message. Redder males have denser vegetation on their territories, and may be larger and have higher reproductive success. Studies in cities and the countryside have found different links between colour and success, so the message is not simple. > **The yellow cardinal** Researchers once studied a cardinal with yellow feathers. They lacked all four of the usual red pigments and held yellow ones instead, including lutein, a yellow pigment from food. The mutation seems to have impaired only one class of chemical reaction, leaving the rest working. ## Loud songs from both sexes Both males and females sing. The songs are loud, whistled phrases that defend territory and court mates. Mates and neighbours share most or all of their songs, and the repertoires drift apart with distance, which makes local dialects. Chip calls work as contact calls and alarms, and raising and lowering the crest, the tuft of feathers on the head, also signals alarm. Both sexes attack their own reflections in windows and car mirrors, most often in spring and early summer, when they are defending their territory. ## Small bird, seed cracker An adult is 20.9 to 23.5 cm long, averages 42 to 48 g and has an average wingspan of 30.5 cm. The bill is thick and cone-shaped, and cardinals prefer seeds that are easily husked, meaning the shell comes off with little work. The diet is mainly seeds, fruits and insects, and parents feed their chicks almost exclusively insects. ## A backyard success story Cardinals live across eastern, central and parts of southwestern North America, from southern Canada to northern Central America, and have been introduced to Hawaii, southern California and Bermuda. The range has been expanding northward since at least the mid-1800s, as the birds took advantage of moderate temperatures, human habitation and bird feeders. The IUCN rates the species Least Concern. Life is risky at the nest. The female incubates the eggs for 11 to 13 days, predators take many eggs and nestlings, and only 15 to 37 percent of nests produce fledglings, the young that leave the nest. The oldest recorded cardinal was a female, 15 years and 9 months old when she was found in Pennsylvania. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Do female cardinals sing? Yes. Both sexes sing, and a female singing from the nest appears to tell her mate when to bring food. *(Source: [Halkin et al. 2021]())* ### Can a cardinal make red feathers without red food? Yes, some. Cardinals kept away from red pigments in their diet still grew pale red feathers, which indicates that their bodies turn yellow food pigments into red ones. *(Source: [McGraw et al. 2001]())* ### Do northern cardinals fly south for winter? No. They are year-round residents of their range. In winter most join flocks and roost together, then in the breeding season they turn territorial. *(Source: [Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan]())* ## Sources 1. [Cardinalis cardinalis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22723819A132024136.]() 2. [Cardinalis cardinalis (northern cardinal). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.]() 3. [Halkin et al. (2021). Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis). Birds of the World.]() 4. [McGraw et al. (2001). The Influence of Carotenoid Acquisition and Utilization on the Maintenance of Species-Typical Plumage Pigmentation in Male American Goldfinches (Carduelis tristis) and Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis). Physiological and Biochemical Zoology.]() 5. [Northern Cardinal Overview. All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology.]() 6. [McGraw, Hill & Parker (2003). Carotenoid Pigments in a Mutant Cardinal: Implications for the Genetic and Enzymatic Control Mechanisms of Carotenoid Metabolism in Birds. The Condor.]() *Published September 29, 2026. 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