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Have you seen a bright-red bird perched on the branch of a tree or bush? If you have, you may have seen a male cardinal. (Female cardinals are mostly grayish-brown.) They’re common in the eastern half of the U.S.
Cardinals are so well-liked they’re the official bird of seven states – Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia. The kind of cardinal known in these states is the northern cardinal. The desert cardinal lives in the Southwest. The male is gray with a red face and wings. Male vermillion cardinals are red with a black chin. They live in South America.
◀ Cardinals get their color from the food they eat, which is mostly grapes and berries. These foods contain a red pigment, or color. The more berries a cardinal eats, the brighter its color. Cardinals also eat insects and seeds. Their sharp, cone-shaped beak is just right for opening seed coverings.
Like other birds, cardinals molt, or lose their old feathers so new ones can grow in. Most of the time, a few feathers at a time get replaced. But not always. There are times when a cardinal may lose all the feathers on its head at once. That’s when you’ll see its black or dark-gray skin. ▶
◀ Imagine a cardinal letting ants crawl all over its body. It may look like the bird is sick. But it isn’t. The behavior is called “anting.” Ants give off an acid that kills germs, fleas, and other parasites. Scientists think the acid also soothes the bird’s skin and helps with molting.
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How did cardinals get their name?
The bright-red color of male northern cardinals made the first settlers from Europe think of the red robes that Catholic priests known as cardinals wore. The settlers named the birds for them. A group of cardinals is sometimes called a “Vatican,” which is also the word for the headquarters of the Catholic church.
Adult cardinals may be eight or nine inches long, but they hatch from tiny eggs that are less than an inch.
