Cardinal Bird Feed Information
Cardinals are one of the most well-known birds across the United States. Several states have established the cardinal as their state bird. Both the male and female cardinals are songbirds with the female even singing melodies from her nest while she incubates eggs. While the cardinal is often known for its bright red feathers, male cardinals are the only ones that exhibit these colors. The female cardinals are usually tan to gray in color. Cardinals feed on a variety of bird feed, seeds and fruits. These foods are offered by many people trying to attract cardinals to their feeders across the country.
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Cardinal feed
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Cardinals will eat any type of general bird feed although they tend to favor bird seed containing sunflower seeds. They have been observed picking through all the seed at a feeder seeking every last sunflower seed before consuming other parts of the feed.
Variety of Foods
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Aside from regular types of bird seed, cardinals feed on cracked corn, suet, pieces of banana cornbread, peanuts, white bread, raisins, small slices of banana, melon seeds and more. Cardinals also eat a significant amount of small insects during breeding season.
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Larger Bird Seeds
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Cardinals also prefer to eat larger seeds, compared with other birds. Cardinals have been observed on the ground below a bird feeder eating the larger seeds that the smaller birds have dropped or picked out while eating.
Cardinal Bird Feeder
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Cardinals are larger than ordinary songbirds and prefer stationary bird feeders approximately four to six feet above the ground. For this reason, cardinals do not typically visit bird feeders that swing or move when birds are eating at it.
Water
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Cardinals also feed in areas where there is a year-round water source since water can be scarce in both summer and winter months, depending on the area. Many people trying to attract cardinals typically offer fresh water, especially in the winter months when natural sources of water are often frozen over, according to Backyardchirper.com.
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References
- Photo Credit CARDINAL image by brelsbil from Fotolia.com
