Northern Cardinal
(Cardinalis cardinalis)

Overview

Summary

© Tony Battiste
For additional photos and vocalizations, visit Dendroica. (Link opens in a new window.)

Primarily a species of the eastern and southern United States, the Northern Cardinal reaches Canada mainly in Ontario's Carolinian region but has expanded to eastern Ontario, southern Quebec and parts of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Results from the Breeding Bird Survey show that populations have increased greatly since 1970 and continue to increase in both number and breeding range. These increases are probably the result of bird feeding and warmer winters (McLaren 2007).

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe
• Breeding Bird Survey (BBS): Relative Abundance and Breeding Distribution (1993-2012)

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

The Northern Cardinal has benefited from changes brought to the landscape since the settlement period in North America. With the conversion of forests to agriculture and suburban areas, nesting habitat has increased and bird feeding operations have ensured an adequate supply of food in areas that would otherwise have not been suitable (Halkin and Linville 1999, Erskine 1992). Winter temperatures have also warmed. Despite its obvious success, the Northern Cardinal is a frequent host of Brown-headed Cowbird parasitism; nesting success is generally low (Halkin and Linville 1999).

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Erskine, A.J. 1992. Atlas of Breeding Birds of the Maritime Provinces. NSM/Nimbus co-publication, Halifax, Nova Scotia. 280 pp.
• Halkin, S.L. and S.U. Linville. 1999. Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Halkin, S.L. and S.U. Linville. 1999. Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)
• McLaren, M.A. 2007. Northern Cardinal. pp. 578-579 in: Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario, 2001-2005. Cadman, M.D., D.A. Sutherland, G.G. Beck, D. Lepage and A.R. Couturier, Eds. Bird Studies Canada, Environment Canada, Ontario Field Ornithologists, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, and Ontario Nature, Toronto, Ontario.