The Northern Cardinal, with its striking plumage, is a familiar and cherished sight across North America, often gracing backyards year-round. These vibrant birds often spark curiosity about their winter nesting habits. Understanding their seasonal behaviors offers insight into how these adaptable birds thrive even when temperatures drop.
Winter Nesting: A Misconception
Northern Cardinals do not typically nest in winter. Nesting is an energetically demanding process, requiring warmer temperatures and a readily available food supply to support both the parents and their developing young. The harsh conditions of winter, characterized by cold temperatures and scarce insect populations, make it an unsuitable time for raising new broods. Insect-dependent chicks would struggle to survive.
Instead of breeding, cardinals focus their energy during winter on survival, conserving warmth, and finding food. This strategic avoidance of winter nesting ensures the species’ overall success by aligning reproduction with favorable environmental conditions.
Cardinal Winter Habits and Shelter
During winter, Northern Cardinals employ several strategies to endure the cold and find sustenance. They do not migrate, instead remaining in their established territories throughout the year. Their diet shifts from a summer focus on insects to a winter reliance on seeds, berries, and other plant matter, including those found at bird feeders like black oil sunflower and safflower seeds. They will also consume suet for its high caloric content, which is crucial for maintaining body temperature.
For shelter, cardinals seek out dense evergreen trees, shrubs, and thickets, which offer protection from wind, snow, and predators. These natural covers provide crucial roosting sites. Physically, cardinals adapt to cold by fluffing their feathers to create insulating air pockets close to their bodies. They can also shiver to generate heat and may temporarily lower their body temperature to conserve energy during extremely cold nights. In winter, cardinals often form small foraging groups or “colleges” to increase their chances of finding food and to share warmth, contrasting with their more territorial behavior during breeding season.
When Cardinals Really Nest
Northern Cardinals primarily nest from early spring through late summer, typically between March and September. Nest building can begin as early as February in some regions, with eggs often laid in March. The female cardinal constructs the cup-shaped nest, usually in dense shrubs, small trees, or vine tangles, at heights ranging from 3 to 10 feet above the ground. She uses materials like twigs, grass, bark strips, and leaves.
Cardinals commonly raise two to three broods per season, occasionally even four. A clutch typically consists of two to five eggs, which the female incubates. After hatching, both parents feed the young, predominantly with insects, and the nestlings fledge, or leave the nest, quickly. The male often takes over feeding the fledglings from an earlier brood while the female begins constructing a new nest for the next clutch.