The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is a familiar bird across eastern North America, instantly recognizable by the male’s brilliant red plumage and distinctive crest. This backyard favorite is an opportunistic omnivore, meaning its diet is incredibly diverse and changes depending on available food sources. Cardinals forage low to the ground and in shrubs, consuming a wide array of items that include seeds, fresh fruits, and various forms of animal matter. This varied diet allows the cardinal to remain a permanent resident in its range.
The Cardinal’s Approach to Stinging Insects
Cardinals occasionally consume wasps, bees, and other stinging insects, but these form a small and opportunistic part of their overall diet. This consumption is typically observed when the birds are actively seeking protein, especially during the breeding season.
The key to a cardinal’s ability to eat a stinging insect lies in its specialized anatomy and technique. The Northern Cardinal possesses a thick, powerful, cone-shaped bill, which is primarily adapted for cracking hard-shelled seeds. This robust beak is also effective for neutralizing a stinging insect. A cardinal will often capture the insect and then use its strong beak to crush the head or thorax, instantly killing the prey. To address the stinger, the bird may wipe the insect’s abdomen against a branch or a hard surface, a process known as “wiping,” to dislodge the venom sac and stinger before consumption.
Varied Components of the Adult Cardinal Diet
The adult Northern Cardinal’s diet is largely composed of vegetable matter, which can make up as much as 90% of its total food intake in the non-breeding season. Their favorite foods at backyard feeders are black oil sunflower seeds and safflower seeds, which their powerful bills can easily crack open. The conical bill provides a mechanical advantage for husking large, tough seeds. Beyond seeds, cardinals consume a variety of wild fruits and berries, such as sumac, wild grapes, dogwood, and hackberries.
These plant sources provide carbohydrates and the carotenoids necessary for the male’s vibrant red coloration. Non-stinging insects also supplement the adult diet, including beetles, grasshoppers, moths, and caterpillars, which provide a reliable source of protein throughout the year.
The Essential Role of Insects in Nestling Development
While adult cardinals rely heavily on seeds and fruit, the requirements of their young necessitate a diet rich in protein and fat to fuel their rapid growth during the breeding season. For this reason, the parents switch to feeding their young an almost exclusively insect-based diet. Parents target easily digestible, soft-bodied invertebrates like caterpillars, spiders, small larvae, and crickets for their chicks.
This concentrated protein allows the nestlings to grow quickly, fledging the nest in a short period. The male cardinal often continues to feed the fledglings for several weeks while the female begins a second or third brood, maintaining the high-protein insect diet for the newly independent young.