Cardinals, by Jaden

Cardinal Features

By Jaden Ramsey

Cardinals have fascinating features.  The grown up cardinals have a bright red body, while the female happens to have a greyish brown, with hints of red on their chest, and tail, and wing tips.  The males have a black face all the way down to their chest. Females don’t have it, but they have black spots all over their body.  All cardinals have cone beaks that are a bright orange, a very long tail, and feathery wings.  Baby cardinals are the color of females  when they’re born, and they have black beaks instead.  When they grow up they turn white before orange.

The northern cardinal has unique habitats and behavior.  Cardinals live in forests or in bushes surrounding where people live.  They make their nests of sticks, grass, and shrubs.  They build their homes in the middle of bushes.  When other birds get too close to their nest they shriek to scare them away.  Every year female cardinals lay 3 eggs usually, but they can’t have 5. For two weeks the female cardinal protects the eggs while the male gets the food.  Cardinals talk with songs and calls.  Males sing and flap their  wings to attract females.  Mating couples sing the same song together.

Where do you find this outstanding bird?  Cardinals are usually around Southern Canada and their range goes down to Eastern U.S and moved to hotter places and near more people- a trustable food source from bird feeders.

What is a another name for this interesting bird?  Cardinalis is a scientific name for cardinals.  What else do they have?  They have a weight of 42 to 48 grams, their wings go to about 25 to 31 cm.  They live 28.5 years (in the wild).  We all hope you enjoyed this information!

Extra Info!  Male cardinals fight their reflection when they see it to scare off the “other bird.”  Again we all hope you enjoyed! :D  Thank you for spending some time to learn something I hope I do more things you like.  :)