📸 PhotoPhoto: patricia pierce · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis (Northern Cardinal · ショウジョウコウカンチョウ)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its mass of 48 g is slightly lighter than one chicken egg (about 60 g) (Comparison).
- 💡 According to ADW, it frequently visits backyard bird feeders and eats insect pests such as boll weevils, cutworms, and caterpillars.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The northern cardinal is a medium-sized North American songbird in which the male is bright red all over except for a black facial mask. Because it often visits backyard bird feeders, it is a familiar bird to people.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Both sexes have a thick, cone-shaped orange-red bill, a long tail, and a crest on top of the head. Females are light brown or greenish-brown with reddish highlights and lack the black mask.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It eats weed seeds, grains, insects, fruit, and sunflower seeds, and feeds its chicks almost exclusively insects. It breeds from March to September (months 3–9), usually raising two broods a year, and stays in the same area year-round.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2018) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22723819/132024136
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • doi.org — avilist.v2026
- • iucnredlist.org — 132024136
- • wikidata.org — Q726389
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Cardinal couple - Feb. 2018 (watermark removed).jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Cardinalis cardinalis
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Scott Hartman · CC BY 3.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.