Northern Cardinal's Diet

Colorful and active with a melodious song, the bright red northern cardinal (cardinalis cardinalis) is a favorite backyard bird in the eastern half of North America. Like most songbirds, cardinals eat an omnivorous diet; they prefer a variety of seeds, fruits and insects. Birders can easily attract cardinals to an area by providing a habitat of low, dense brush and shrubbery and setting up feeders stocked with their favorite snacks.

  1. Seeds

    • The cardinal's extremely thick, reddish bill is designed to crack the hulls of nuts, seeds and other hard morsels. While cardinals will eat seeds from dogwood, wild grape, buckwheat, grasses and sedges, they won't be able to resist a feeder full of sunflower seeds. They especially prefer cracking black oil sunflower hulls to get at the rich, nutritious seeds inside.

    Fruit

    • Cardinals feast on wild berries from mulberry, hackberry, blackberry, sumac and tulip trees. They'll also nibble dried corn. Cardinals are less likely than fruit-loving orioles or tanagers to eat oranges or apples set out on bird feeders.

    Insects

    • Despite its seed-cracking bill, cardinals will also consume insects as a ready source of protein. Beetles, crickets, flies, cicadas, katydids, centipedes, moths, spiders and butterflies are all fair game. Young cardinal nestlings eat an insect-only diet.

    Foraging Behavior

    • Cardinals prefer to forage for seeds and nuts on the ground, near low tree branches, dense brush and shrubs that provide cover. When feeding in a group, the bright red males eat first, followed by reddish-brown females and juveniles. Cardinals often eat accompanied by other ground-foraging species, such as juncos, sparrows, tufted titmice and goldfinches.

    Attracting Cardinals

    • Though cardinals are natural ground-feeders, they'll readily eat from a bird feeder if it's stocked with sunflower seeds. Tube feeders, hopper feeders and platform feeders are suitable designs for cardinals. Place feeders in a small clearing, about 6 feet from the ground, near some large bushes or leafy trees to give cardinals a sense of safety. Cardinals may also eat seed that's been scattered to the ground by other birds.