Bird of the Week: Northern Cardinal
I MEAN.
OK, we got a big one here. It’s kind of weird to me that we haven’t done this one before on Bird of the Week. But luckily, we got a special reader request that we feel duty-bound to honor. So here goes.
It’s the one, the only, the all-timer, the GOAT, the icon, the legend, the moment….the northern cardinal.
There’s two reasons I think it’s weird we haven’t done the northern cardinal yet. The first is that we’ve profiled members of the broader cardinal family before—but never a bird that’s like “I am a straight-up cardinal.” Kinda weird, nearly four years into this thing!
The second reason is….have you SEEN THIS BIRD?
Boom! Pow! Biff! Zork! THAT is a BIRD, my god. The red plumage, the black around the beak, the tuft??? That “you talkin’ to me” dagger stare? This is Mt. Rushmore stuff. Let’s look at some more pictures.
I mean.
I mean.
I! MEAN!
I am not the only one to hyperventilate about this bird. As Caitlin famously noted back in the blog that launched BOTW in the first place, the northern cardinal is the state bird of fully seven states—more than any other bird. She also wrote, “A cardinal is one of those birds that's so distinctive and attention-grabbing, that you always point and say, ‘look, a cardinal!’ when one comes into view.” Caitlin, right as ever.
Even Cornell University’s All About Birds database, which is not normally given to wax poetic (they prefer doing things like “all of the Latin names for this bird, interesting right?”), can’t help itself:
The male Northern Cardinal is perhaps responsible for getting more people to open up a field guide than any other bird. They’re a perfect combination of familiarity, conspicuousness, and style: a shade of red you can’t take your eyes off. Even the brown females sport a sharp crest and warm red accents. Cardinals don’t migrate and they don’t molt into a dull plumage, so they’re still breathtaking in winter’s snowy backyards. In summer, their sweet whistles are one of the first sounds of the morning.
It’s the bird that births birders! The birder birther bird!
They’re called cardinals because hundreds of years ago some Catholics went “hey, your color is like the color we make everyone in Conclave wear!” But don’t let this connection to the Catholic Church turn you against them! They didn’t have a say in the matter.
Here’s what they did have a say in. The northern cardinal lives, wait for it, in North America—in the Northeast, Midwest, the South, and parts of the Southwest, and all the way down into Mexico. (Californians like me were deprived of these birds as children.) Cardinals live a pretty chill life—eating seeds, mating for life, and staying close to family and friends at home. Why bother migrating when you can just hang out and wow everyone around you? (By the way, those seeds? They’re what make the cardinal so red. Seriously: the color comes from the bird’s diet. Amazing!)
Apart from wowing, the cardinal likes to dazzle people so much that they turn it into a mythical symbol. Here’s the Farmer’s Almanac:
It is common folklore that a visit from a cardinal represents a sign from a loved one who has passed. While this belief cannot be traced to a single origin, birds have often symbolized heavenly visitors, messengers to the gods, or even the gods themselves in feathered form. This belief has been part of ancient Egyptian, Celtic, Maori, Irish, and Hindu spiritualism, as well as the lore and legends of many Native American tribes, including the Ojibwe, Lakota, Odawa, Sioux, Algonquin, and Menomini.
Cardinals are also seen as a sign of everything from good luck to love to the blood of Christ (!) I guess that’s what happens when you are that red. Humans are so into making the color red mean one million things, and here is a bird-shaped excuse to do just that.
The other reason people are so into cardinals? The noises they make. There are so, so many of them. According to All About Birds, “Scientists have described at least 16 different calls for the northern cardinal.” 16! Also the male and female birds sing together, and apparently people think it strengthens their relationship?? I’m just over here crying.
There are enough different kinds of cardinal sounds that this video is 37 minutes long.
OK I’m babbling like a goofball which means it’s probably time to wrap this up. CARDINALS! OH MY GOD.
A reminder: you can check out our complete Bird of the Week list here, and get in touch with your bird suggestions at hello@discourseblog.com.
There's nothing like seeing a bright red cardinal against the dreary backdrop of cold, gray winter.