Main content

Northern Cardinal

Michael Palin presents the northern cardinal from a New York's Central Park.

Michael Palin presents the northern cardinal from a New York's Central Park. Northern Cardinals are finch-like birds and make British robins look positively anaemic. They are common residents in the south and east of North America where they live in woods, parks and gardens. Your first sighting of these vermilion birds with their black masks and outrageous crests comes as a shock. They seem too tropically colourful to brave the dull North American winter.

Only the male Cardinals are bright red. Females are browner with flashes of red on their wings and red bills. Both sexes obtain their red colours from seeds and other foods which contain carotenoid pigments.
Their familiarity and eye-catching colours have endeared cardinals to North Americans. No fewer than seven states, including Kentucky, Illinois and Ohio have adopted cardinals as their state bird and it's also the mascot of many famous sports clubs including the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.

Producer : Andrew Dawes

Available now

2 minutes

Last on

Sun 22 Jan 2023 08:58

Northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Webpage image courtesy of Rolf Nussbaumer / naturepl.com.

NPL Ref 漏 Rolf Nussbaumer / naturepl.com.

Broadcasts

  • Mon 9 Feb 2015 05:58
  • Christmas Day 2015 05:58
  • Fri 29 Mar 2019 05:58
  • Sun 5 Jan 2020 08:58
  • Sun 15 Aug 2021 08:58
  • Sun 22 Jan 2023 08:58

Featured in...

Podcast: Planet Puffin

Podcast: Planet Puffin

Exploring all things puffin - the silly and the serious, the scientific and the cultural.

Try this new podcast

Five stories of birds and birdsong are told by the people inspired by them.

Podcast