The northern cardinal is a common songbird found throughout eastern North America. With its bright red plumage and recognizable song, the northern cardinal is well-known for frequenting backyard bird feeders. But what exactly do northern cardinals like to eat?
Northern Cardinals Are Omnivores
Northern cardinals are omnivores, meaning they eat both plant and animal matter. Their diet consists of insects, spiders, snails, seeds, berries, and fruit. They forage for food in trees, shrubs, and on the ground. Cardinals have thick powerful bills suited for crushing seeds and cracking into nuts and insect exoskeletons.
Northern Cardinals Eat Insects and Other Invertebrates
A large part of a northern cardinal’s diet consists of insects and other invertebrates. Cardinals often forage for insects hidden in tree bark or among leaves and twigs. Some common insect prey include:
- Beetles
- Crickets
- Grasshoppers
- Caterpillars
- Ants
- Spiders
- Snails
Northern cardinals regularly visit bird feeders, but they seem to prefer searching natural areas for protein-rich morsels like insects and snails. Cardinals crash through dense vegetation trying to flush out concealed bugs. This agile songbird prefers to hop along branches picking off exposed insects rather than gleaning the undersides of leaves like warblers.
Seeds and Nuts Provide Lots of Calories
While animal prey provides protein, the bulk of a northern cardinal’s diet consists of high-calorie plant material like seeds and nuts. Cardinals use their strong beaks to crack open seeds and nuts. Some of their favorite foods in this category include:
- Sunflower seeds
- Safflower
- Millet
- Pumpkin seeds
- Peanuts
In winter when insect prey becomes scarce, cardinals rely more on seeds from feeders or wild plants. Cardinals forage in fields, forest edges, and thickets searching for seeds. Favored natural seed sources include dogwoods, maples, sumac, grasses, and weed stems.
Fruits and Berries Provide Essential Nutrition
Cardinals eat a wide variety of berry and fruit crops. These fruits provide cardinals with important vitamins, nutrients, and carbohydrates. Cardinals sometimes travel long distances when they discover a productive fruiting bush or tree. Some of the fruits and berries that cardinals like to eat include:
- Wild grapes
- Blackberries
- Raspberries
- Mulberries
- Wild cherries
- Elderberries
- Dogwood berries
- Hackberries
- Wild strawberries
- Black raspberries
In late summer and fall, northern cardinals gorge on ripening berries, sometimes eating nothing else for days. They become quieter and less visible as they spend more time lurking in shrubs searching for fruit. Cardinals act as mobile seed dispersers when they excrete viable seeds from consumed berries.
Northern Cardinals Drink Water and Nectar
Water is an essential resource for northern cardinals. They drink water from bird baths, ponds, streams, and puddles. Cardinals also sip nectar from hummingbird feeders or trumpet vine flowers. The sugary nectar provides cardinals with an energy boost.
Northern Cardinals Have Unique Foraging Behaviors
Northern cardinals exhibit some interesting foraging behaviors and adaptations:
- Males sometimes feed female cardinals as part of mating rituals.
- They aggressively defend feeding territories from other birds.
- Cardinals swallow grape and cherry seeds whole, later regurgitating the indigestible seeds.
- Dense feathers protect them from thorns when foraging in brambles.
- Their conical shape is ideal for hopping between branches while picking insects.
- Strong leg muscles allow them to hang upside down while reaching for seeds.
Northern Cardinals Are Opportunistic Foragers
Northern cardinals are omnivorous opportunistic foragers. They eat a wide variety of foods depending on the season. Cardinals forage in seed and berry producing shrubs, on the ground turning over leaf litter, at bird feeders, and even drink nectar from flowers. Their diverse diet provides protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and fat. This allows northern cardinals to thrive across an extensive range.
Conclusion
Northern cardinals are adaptable birds found in many habitats across eastern North America. They are omnivores and eat insects, spiders, seeds, nuts, fruits, and berries. Cardinals have a thick cone-shaped bill ideal for cracking hard seeds or insect shells. Foraging behaviors include gleaning vegetation, excavating leaf litter,hanging upside down, and defending feeding territories. The northern cardinal’s diverse diet allows it to occupy a wide range and flourish even in suburban areas.