Difference between revisions of "Northern Cardinal" - BirdForum Opus

Revision as of 23:59, 7 May 2012

Photo by SulairDH
Adult Male
Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Cardinalis cardinalis

Identification

Length: 7.75 inches
All ages and sexes have a crest and large, conical bill
Male
All red with black mask and chin. Wings have some gray. Orange bill
Female
Brown overall with some red in wings, face, and tail. Red bill
Juvenile
Similar to female but bill is dark instead of red.

Juvenile Female
Photo by Larry D Smith

Distribution

United States and Mexico.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 18 subspecies^[1]:

C. c. superbus: Extremese California to Arizona, south-western New Mexico and northern Sonora
C. c. seftoni: Central Baja California (south to latitude 27°N)
C. c. igneus: Southern Baja California (north to latitude 27°N)
C. c. clintoni: Isla Cerralvo (Gulf of California)

Juvenile Male
Photo by Larry D Smith

C. c. townsendi: Isla Tiburón (Sea of Cortés) and adjacent coastal Sonora
C. c. affinis: Western Mexico (south-eastern Sonora to south-western Chihuahua and western Durango)
C. c. sinaloensis: Coastal western Mexico (Sinaloa and Jalisco)
C. c. mariae: Tres Marías Islands (off western Mexico)
C. c. carneus: (Long Crested) Coastal western Mexico (Colima to Isthmus of Tehuántepec)
C. c. cardinalis: Eastern US
C. c. floridanus: South-eastern Georgia and peninsula Florida
C. c. magnirostris: South-eastern Texas and southern Louisiana
C. c. canicaudus: Western Oklahoma and western Texas to east-central Mexico
C. c. coccineus: Eastern Mexico (eastern San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, north-eastern Puebla and n Oaxaca)
C. c. littoralis: Lowlands of eastern Mexico (southern Veracruz and Tabasco)
C. c. yucatanicus: South-eastern Mexico (Yucatán Peninsula)
C. c. flammiger: South-eastern Mexico (southern Quintana Roo), Belize and Petén of northern Guatemala
C. c. saturatus: Cozumel Island (off Quintana Roo)

Habitat

Suburban Woodlands and parks, mixed forests and forest edges, back yards, high desert.

Behaviour

Winter flocks can be very large, up to 60 or 70 individuals in areas of abundance.

Diet

Their diet consists mostly of fruit and berries, buds, seeds and flowers, insects being included during the summer.

Vocalisation

Song: a clear whistling song. Females will sing along with the male.
It appears there may be varying accents in different localities.

References

Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
Cornell
BF Member observations

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Northern Cardinal. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 23 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Northern_Cardinal

External Links

Search for photos of Northern Cardinal in the gallery

Search for videos of Northern Cardinal on BirdForum TV

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-;''Cardinalis cardinalis''
+[[Image:Northern_Cardinal.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Photo by {{user|SulairDH|SulairDH}}<br />Adult Male<br />Atlanta, [[Georgia]], [[USA]]]]
-[[Image:Northern_Cardinal.jpg|thumb|550px|right|Photo by SulairDH<br/>Photo taken: Atlanta, GA, USA]]
+;[[:Category:Cardinalis|Cardinalis]] cardinalis
 ==Identification==
-'''Male''' All red with black mask and chin.  Wings have some gray.  Red bill
+Length: 7.75 inches<br/>
-'''Female''' Brown overall with some red in wings, face, and tail.  Red bill
+All ages and sexes have a crest and large, conical bill<br/>
-'''Juvenile''' Similar to female but bill is dark instead of red.
+'''Male'''<br/>
-All birds show a crest.
+All red with black mask and chin.  Wings have some gray.  Orange bill<br/>
-Length: 7.75 inches Large, conical bill Crest Long tail
+'''Female'''<br/>
-Adult male:Bright red plumage, dullest on back and wings
+Brown overall with some red in wings, face, and tail.  Red bill<br/>
-Black around base of bill Red bill
+'''Juvenile'''<br/>
-Adult female:Reddish crest, wings and tail Brownish-gray upperparts Buffy underparts Red bill
+Similar to female but bill is dark instead of red.<br/>
-Juvenile like adult female but has dark bill and crest
+[[Image:Northern_Cardinal_Juvenile_Female.jpg|thumb|350px|right|Juvenile Female<br />Photo by {{user|ldsmith|Larry D Smith}}<br/>]]
-[[Image:Northern_Cardinal_Juvenile_Female.jpg|left|Photo by Larry D Smith - Northern_Cardinal_Juvenile_Female http://www.SouthwestNaturePhotos.com/Larry]]
-[[Image:Northern_Cardinal_Juvenile_Male.jpg|right|Photo by Larry D Smith - Northern_Cardinal_Juvenile_Male http://www.SouthwestNaturePhotos.com/Larry]]
 ==Distribution==
-Northern Cardinal is a bird whose range has expanded northward in the last 100 years. Originally a bird of the Southeast, the Northern Cardinal's range expanded north and northwest along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. In 1886 this cardinal was found only occasionally north of the Ohio River. By 1895 it had reached the Great Lakes, and by 1910, it was found in southern Ontario.
+[[United States]] and [[Mexico]].
-Since the 1950s, expansion to the northeast has increased whereas dispersal to the northwest has slowed. The first documented Northern Cardinal nesting in Connecticut was in 1943; it reached Massachusetts in 1958, and has since reached the southern Maritime provinces of Canada. The Cardinal is limited in the West to areas where the annual precipitation is at least 16 inches. Nationally, centers of abundance for this cardinal are along the Mississippi River and along the Colorado and Guadalupe Rivers in Texas. Less-dense populations occur in the valleys of the Ohio, Arkansas, Brazos, and Red rivers.
 ==Taxonomy==
+====Subspecies====
+There are 18 subspecies<sup>[[#References|[1]]]</sup>:
+*''C. c. superbus'': Extremese [[California]] to [[Arizona]], south-western [[New Mexico]] and northern Sonora
+*''C. c. seftoni'': Central [[Baja California]] (south to latitude 27°N)
+*''C. c. igneus'': Southern [[Baja California]] (north to latitude 27°N)
+*''C. c. clintoni'': 	Isla Cerralvo (Gulf of [[California]])
+[[Image:Northern_Cardinal_Juvenile_Male.jpg|thumb|350px|right|Juvenile Male<br />Photo by {{user|ldsmith|Larry D Smith}} <br/>]]
+*''C. c. townsendi'': Isla Tiburón (Sea of Cortés) and adjacent coastal Sonora
+*''C. c. affinis'': Western [[Mexico]] (south-eastern Sonora to south-western Chihuahua and western Durango)
+*''C. c. sinaloensis'': Coastal western [[Mexico]] (Sinaloa and Jalisco)
+*''C. c. mariae'': Tres Marías Islands (off western [[Mexico]])
+*''C. c. carneus'': ('''Long Crested''') Coastal western [[Mexico]] (Colima to Isthmus of Tehuántepec)
+*''C. c. cardinalis'': Eastern [[US]]
+*''C. c. floridanus'': South-eastern [[Georgia]] and peninsula [[Florida]]
+*''C. c. magnirostris'': South-eastern [[Texas]] and southern [[Louisiana]]
+*''C. c. canicaudus'': Western [[Oklahoma]] and western [[Texas]] to east-central [[Mexico]]
+*''C. c. coccineus'': Eastern [[Mexico]] (eastern San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, north-eastern Puebla and n Oaxaca)
+*''C. c. littoralis'': Lowlands of eastern [[Mexico]] (southern Veracruz and Tabasco)
+*''C. c. yucatanicus'': South-eastern [[Mexico]] (Yucatán Peninsula)
+*''C. c. flammiger'': South-eastern [[Mexico]] (southern Quintana Roo), [[Belize]] and Petén of northern [[Guatemala]]
+*''C. c. saturatus'': Cozumel Island (off Quintana Roo)
 ==Habitat==
-Typical habitats are thickets and brushy areas, edges and clearings, riparian woodlands, parks, and residential areas.
+Suburban Woodlands and parks, mixed forests and forest edges, back yards, high desert.
 ==Behaviour==
-Cardinals feed on a variety of foods including seeds, leaf buds, flowers, berries, and fruit. Up to one-third of its summer diet can be insects. Its winter diet is 90 percent vegetable matter, especially large seeds. Winter flocks can be very large, up to 60 or 70 individuals in areas of abundance.
+Winter flocks can be very large, up to 60 or 70 individuals in areas of abundance.
-Cardinals are noted for their loud, clear whistled songs, often sung from a high treetop song post. Females will counter sing, duetting with males—usually after the males have established territories and before nesting begins. Local variations and accents have been noted in cardinal songs
+====Diet====
+Their diet consists mostly of fruit and berries, buds, seeds and flowers, insects being included during the summer.
+====Vocalisation====
+'''Song''': a clear whistling song. Females will sing along with the male.<br />
+It appears there may be varying accents in different localities.
+==References==
+#{{Ref-Clements6thAug11}}#Cornell
+#BF Member observations
+{{ref}}
 ==External Links==
-*[http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showgallery.php/cat/all/si/Cardinalis%20cardinalis%20/page/3/sort/4/perpage/12/what/allfields View more images of Northern Cardinal in the gallery]
+{{GSearch|Cardinalis+cardinalis}}
-[[Category:Birds]]
+<br />
+{{Video|Northern_Cardinal}}
+[[Category:Birds]] [[Category:Cardinalis]] [[Category:Videos]]