Seeing a fast movement of a bright red against green or white is enchanting. In North America, cardinals are one of the most popular backyard birds. Attracting these stunning birds to your yard every year can be achieved by following some simple steps. Here’s how to create a backyard paradise where cardinals can thrive.
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Check PriceMany songbirds migrate south for winter. However, cardinals are year-round residents where they are located. This means that your efforts to attract cardinals will reward you every season. The vivid males will add color to the winter landscapes and the spring nesting season will be brightened by the subtle beauty of the females.
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1. Plant Dense Evergreen Shrubs
Cardinals enjoy having quiet and concealed places to stay, so dense evergreen shrubs are perfect for them. These gorgeous birds nest in thick vegetation which is 4-8 feet above the ground. This height shields them from harsh weather conditions and predator attacks. To make perfect refuges for cardinals, think about planting spruce, juniper, or arborvitae.
Evergreen trees have no leaves and brances all year long. This is good for cardinals who do not migrate. In winder storms you can see cardinals hiding in the brances of evergreens. You can see their bright feathers contrast with the dark green of the needles.
Emerald Green Arborvitae is a wonderful option if you are starting from square one. It will grow in a natural, dense, and pyramidal shape which cardinals love for nesting and shelter.
Brighter Blooms Smaraggroen Arborvitae 1-2 Voete
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Cardinals love black oil sunflower seeds. Their strong beaks can easily crack the seeds. The seeds also contain fats and proteins that are good for cardinals. To feed cardinals, use feeders that have wide perches or tray-style feeders. This is because cardinals like having a lot of space to move around when they are eating.
Compared to striped sunflower seeds, the oil content in black oil sunflower seeds is higher. This makes them especially useful in winter as birds need to consume more calories to keep warm. These seeds will attract cardinals to your feeder multiple times a day. They may even be the first birds to arrive and the last to leave in the evenings.
Wagner’s Black Oil Sunflower Seeds generate high germination rates in seed-loving birds like cardinals.
Black Oil Sunflower Bird Food – 25lb
3. Keep Water Moving Year-Round
The sound and movement of water draw in cardinals and various other birds. Adding an aquarium pump to your birdbath or setting up a small fountain will create attractive ripples and also help keep the water from freezing during the winter months. Your yard will become a bird sanctuary and oasis in the neighborhood as the moving water will attract cardinals from afar.
Cardinals like shallow water sources. Water sources that are only two inches deep are preferred. Cardinals will use the water for drinking and bathing. Bathing helps them keep their feathers insulated and in good condition to fly.
Without wires or batteries, a solar-powered water wiggler will create gentle movement of water. This movement attracts birds, and will also stop mosquitoes from breeding in stagnant water. It is a win-win for your backyard habitat.
4. Designing Multi-Level Feeding Stations
Cardinals will eat at different feeding stations at different times of the day at different heights. Place several feeding stations from the ground to about 6 feet high. This setup imitates their natural feeding behaviors, plus it provides them a little extra security because they will have the height to watch for predators.
Cardinals like feeders that have lots of room for them to perch. While chickadees and finches like tube feeders, cardinals prefer platform feeders or hopper feeders that have wide ledges. They also need sturdy feeders since they are heavier than most birds that use feeders.
With an adjustable platform, The Kingsyard Adjustable Platform Feeder has a protective dome that withholds moisture and provides cardinals enough space to land and feed.
Kingsyard Adjustable Metal Platform Bird Feeder
5. Grow Native Fruit Trees
Cardinals enjoy eating fruits and berries. You can attract them to your yard by planting dogwood, mulberry or crabapple trees. These trees will provide seasonal food as well as nesting and shelter.
Dogwood berries ripen in the fall and remain through the winter, which provide very important food when other food sources are limited. Cardinels also consume seeds and fruit from over one-hundred species of plants, including wild grape, sumac, and elderberry. When you plant a diverse assortment of native fruiting plants, you provide a year-round buffet.
The White Flowering Dogwood feeds cardinals and provides beautiful blooms in the spring and offers striking fall color. It is a performer all year long!
Frozen White Flowering Dogwood Tree Seedling
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6. Maintain Ground Feeding Areas
Since cardinals like to forage on the ground for food, particularly seeds that have fallen, you can make some ground feeding areas by scattering seeds under bushes or nearby places where they can have some cover. Make sure to clean and maintain the areas to avoid mold and illness to the birds.
To attract cardinals into your yard, understand how they behave in the wild. Cardonals like to forage in leaf litter, and cardinals enjoy staying in areas with many ground cover. To accomplish this, build a litter layer in your yard with materials like brush, leaf litter, and even fallen twigs to simulate ground cover').
The Gray Bunny Ground Bird Feeder Tray provides ground feeder birds such as cardinals, with a clean and enjoyable feeding experience. The feeder keeps the seeds off the ground and the fine mesh bottom allows for proper drainage of the seeds so they will not become waterlogged.
Tray for Bird Feeder Metal Mesh Gray Bunny
7. Provide Materials for Nesting that Are Cardinal Friendly
You can help the cardinals by leaving small sticks, pine needles, and thin bark in your yard. You can also use a suet cage to leave natural cotton or wool fibers, but not synthetic materials since they can be dangerous to the birds.
Female cardinals do almost all of the work when it comes to building nests, and most will take between three and nine days to complete the entire nest. The nests are bowl-shaped and consist of four layers: the bottom is made from sticks and coarse twigs, the second layer is made from leafy organic debris (and may also consist of twig strips), the third layer is made from softer materials like grass and stems, and the very top is made from pine needles. The more nesting materials you provide, the more appealing your yard becomes to nesting pairs.
Songbird Essentials Nesting Material is a combination of cotton, hemp, aspen fiber, and feathers. This mixture will attract cardinals and other songbirds for nest building.
8. Minimize Pesticide Use
During breeding season, cardinals feed insects to their young. To help keep a good supply of insects for parent birds to feed their chicks, keep your yard pesticide free. This way, you also avoid exposing the birds to harmful chemicals.
Cardinal parents take many trips each day to bring back food for their growing chicks. During nesting season, these trips can include bringing back food such as caterpillars, beetles, and grasshoppers. If you want to provide food for your local bird population, keep your yard pesticide free.
Research indicates that common pesticides affect bird reproduction and survival even at very low concentration. When choosing to garden organically, you're protecting cardinals and the whole system that relies upon them. To keep your yard safe for cardinals, an option you could consider utilizing is organic neem oil spray.
9. Create Brush Piles
Cardinals are thankful for the shelter they can find in severe weather and when they are trying to avoid predators. Use brush piles that consist of fallen branches and twigs to create brush piles in the quiet corners of your yard. These places are where cardinals can find cover and will attract the insects that cardinals feed on.
Building brush piles is easy! Start with large logs or branches for the base then add smaller materials on top. The decomposing wood will attract the beetles and other insects that cardinals eat. These wood piles create great hiding spots for animals.
If a complete brush pile doesn't fit into your landscape tastes, try using evergreen boughs from Christmas trees after the holidays; they provide temporary shelter that cardinals will use during the winter months. You may also add a cedar roosting box to provide cardinals with warm shelter during the harsh nights of winter.
10. Maintain Year-Round Feeding
Cardinals stay close if they find a good food source. Feeders should always be kept out during winter as food is scant in nature. Also remember to clean feeders as they can transmit disease to wildlife.
During the non-breeding season, cardinals set up home ranges, not territories. This means areas with reliable food sources can be visited by many cardinals throughout the day. It is not uncommon to see winter flocks of 20 or more cardinals at well-kept feeding stations.
The Perky Pet Red Cardinal Bird Feeder has a 2.5-pound capacity and has a mesh design so multiple cardinals can feed from any angle.
11. Set Up Lighting That Is Friendly To Cardinals
Cardinals mostly work in daylight and are typically the first to arrive at feeders in the morning, and the last to leave at dusk. Use dim downward-facing lights in your gardens to help them with navigation during those hours. Use caution with bright, upward facing lights. These can disorient the birds and interrupt their natural flying patterns.
Cardinals feed in the early morning and late evening because these times are less competitive for food with other species; this behavior is called crepuscular activity. For optimal cardinal sightings, set up your feeders in a location where you can watch these enchanting twilight hours.
Pathway lights that glow softly are also great to help cardinals locate food sources during the transitional periods of dawn and dusk. Low-intensity lights are a great option to not disturb nesting cardinals.
12. Create Vertical Layers
The ideal location for a cardinal would have several different layers of vegetation. First, tall trees should be planted for nesting. Then, medium-height shrubs provide protection from predation while cardinals can use the lower layers of vegetation for ground foraging. This type of layout in your yard mimics a woodland edge habitat, which will make the cardinals feel safe enough to settle down in your yard.
As cardinals like to inhabit the edges of forests and clearings, as these areas have a lot of protective cover as well as give cardinals ample opportunity to forage. Creating transitional zones with varying heights of vegetation in your yard can help cardinals use your yard as an edge habitat.
Cardinals are known to nest in the understory layer of 4-15 feet. This shrub layer is critical and includes viburnum, serviceberry, and native roses, as those provide both cover and food.
Did You Know?
Cardinals are considered ‘edge species’ because they do well where forest meets clearing. In your yard, if there is a distinct transition from tall trees to mid-height shrubs to low ground cover, you’ve mimicked their preferred habitat.
13. Maintain a Quiet Zone
Cardinals love calm surroundings, and they especially appreciate this during nesting time. Make a quiet area that is not in the way of people passing through, or garden machinery that is loud. Feeding stations and nesting areas should not be near any busy pathways, and you may even use sound absorbing features such as thick vegetation or water features to make the area quieter.
Male cardinals are known for their lovely songs, which they use for both territorial claims and attracting partners. Their song and nesting activities are more frequent in areas where there is little noise competition.
If you have pets, especially cats, please keep them inside or watch them when outside. Since cardinals nest and forage at low heights, they are easy prey for cats. A yard that welcomes cardinals is a yard that is safe for wildlife. Also, a brightly colored cover for your cat's collar will help birds see the cat and may reduce the amount of wildlife killed by your cat.
Bringing It All Together
All of the necessary parts of a habitat need to be present in your yard. This will create the perfect habitat for cardinals so your yard is as welcoming as possible for these beautiful birds. Food, water, shelter, and nesting options are all essentials to create a complete habitat that meets cardinals' needs.
You can change your yard into a little slice of paradise to draw cardinals. With the right mindset, you can create a serene spot for the cardinals and add to the enjoyment of your yard throughout the year. The cardinals adapt very well to suburbia, so this gives you the chance to see this beauty firsthand.
Make a couple of small improvements to your landscaping. Before long, beautiful red cardinals will brighten your landscape and you’ll get to hear their distinctive “cheer-cheer-cheer” song!
