Northern Cardinal

Cardinalis cardinalis

The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is a bird found in United States and Canada. Woodland edges, gardens and thickets in eastern North America. It eats leaves and other plant parts, insects and other small invertebrates and fruit. The IUCN Red List lists it as Least Concern.

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Scientific name	Cardinalis cardinalis
Region	North America
Found in	United States and Canada

🏡 Where the Northern Cardinal lives

Woodland edges, gardens and thickets in eastern North America.

🍽️ What it eats

🌿 Leaves & plants70%
🐛 Insects & bugs20%
🍎 Fruit10%

A rough guide to its diet over a year. Source: EltonTraits (Wilman et al. 2014).

Conservation status

LCNTVUENCREWEX

Least ConcernThere are plenty of these birds.

💡 Both males and females sing, even in winter.

Hear the Northern Cardinal

Recorded by Rory Nefdt (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0), xeno-canto XC1133842. Trimmed to a few seconds.

Questions about the Northern Cardinal

Where does the Northern Cardinal live?

The Northern Cardinal lives in United States and Canada. Woodland edges, gardens and thickets in eastern North America.

What does the Northern Cardinal eat?

leaves and other plant parts (about 70%), insects and other small invertebrates (about 20%), fruit (about 10%). These are rough shares of its diet over a year, from the EltonTraits database.

Is the Northern Cardinal endangered?

There are plenty of these birds. Its IUCN Red List category is Least Concern.

More birds from North America

Sources: IUCN Red List (via Wikidata), EltonTraits 1.0 (Wilman et al. 2014), GBIF sightings for countries, Wikipedia. Last updated 2026-10-19.