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'''Northern cardinal''' (''Cardinalis cardinalis'') is a songbird of the family Fringillidae, and found throughout much of eastern North America. The name "cardinal" refers to the senior clerics of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] and the red robes they wear.
==Description==
The northern cardinal is about 8.3–9.1 inches long, with a wingspan of 9.8 to 12.2 inches, and weigh 1.19 to 2.29 ounces. It has a strong, conical beak and a small, yet distinctive head crest. The two sexes differ in the coloration of the plumage, with males having a predominantly scarlet-red plumage with some brownish-red hues on the wings, back and tail, a black face mask. Females bear an olive-brownish plumage with reddish hues on the wings, on the tail and in the hood, as well as by a less well defined, rather gray colored face mask. Young birds are colored like the females, but without a face mask. Northern races are darker, southern races are more brightly colored red.
==Range and habitat==
The northern cardinal is found mainly in eastern North America, from southern Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia in Canada, south to Guatemala and Belize, and from the Atlantic coastline westward to southern Minnesota, Nebraska, Texas and southern Arizona. The species was introduced in Hawaii and southern California. A forest bird, it has also shown a preference for populated areas, living in open ground with plenty of bushes and hedges, in parks, gardens, at forest edges, in forest clearings and in riparian forests.
==Diet==
The northern cardinal's diet consists of 90% seeds, cereals and fruits. It feeds mainly by hopping on the ground, or among trees or shrubs. It also consumes beetles, cicadas, grasshoppers, snails, wild fruits and berries, flowers and bark of elms. It will also take advantage of maple sap flowing from the holes previously drilled by sapsuckers and woodpeckers. During the summer, it prefers seeds that spread easily, but it is less selective in winter when food is scarce. Young birds are fed almost exclusively on insects.
[[Category:Birds]][[Category:Perching Birds]]
[[Category:Birds]][[Category:Perching Birds]]