Strategies for Inviting Vibrant Cardinals - Encouraging Melodious Songbirds to Flock to Your Garden
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The vibrant red northern cardinal is one of America's most iconic birds, and attracting them to your garden can be a delightful experience. Here's a guide to help you create a cardinal-friendly environment.
Creating a Balanced Garden for Cardinals
A balanced garden planting can increase insect populations, providing an important food source for cardinals. To attract cardinals, focus on planting a mix of seed-producing flowers, insect-attracting plants, and dense shrubs or small trees that offer shelter and nesting sites.
Key plants to consider include sunflowers and black-eyed Susans, sweet peas and nasturtiums, blue vervain, juniper shrubs, dogwood and serviceberry trees, and more. These plants provide nectar, seeds, and insects, catering to the cardinals' dietary needs throughout the year.
Seed-Producing Flowers
Sunflowers and black-eyed Susans produce seed-rich centers that cardinals love to eat, especially in late summer and fall. Sweet peas and nasturtiums also produce seeds attractive to cardinals, with nasturtiums self-seeding and providing seeds cardinals readily eat.
Insect-Attracting Plants
Blue vervain provides nectar, attracts insects (a protein source for cardinals), and produces seeds in fall.
Shelter and Nesting Sites
Juniper shrubs offer dense shelter and berry-like cones that provide both food and protection for cardinals. Dogwood and serviceberry trees produce berries and attract insects, providing both food and shelter. These native plants support cardinals during nesting season.
Creating Effective Habitat
To create an effective habitat for cardinals:
- Use native plants as they provide the best food and shelter for local birds.
- Plant dense shrubs or small trees for safe nesting sites and cover from predators.
- Avoid pesticides to protect insects that cardinals feed on.
- Leave some areas wild or add brush piles to increase natural shelter availability.
By combining these elements, you create an inviting garden environment that supplies cardinals with year-round food and shelter.
Additional Tips
- Cardinals are the official bird of seven states.
- Cardinals are often the first and last birds to visit feeders, feeding early in the morning and again in late evening.
- During the summer breeding season, cardinals turn to caterpillars to feed their young, so caterpillar host plants such as milkweed, bee balm, purple coneflower, Joe Pye weed, dill, fennel, and parsley can be added to the garden to provide this vital supply.
- Cardinals nest low, just 3 to 10 feet off the ground, and enjoy a tall perch to sing from.
- Cardinals are attracted to bird feeders specifically designed for them, featuring perches calibrated to their weight.
- Sunflower seeds, particularly back-oil sunflower seeds, are essential for attracting cardinals.
- To attract cardinals, it's best to top up feeders before their evening feed.
- Cardinals are commonly seen in the eastern and central states, and occasionally in southern Arizona and New Mexico.
- Cardinals prefer sturdy bird tables, platform, or hopper feeders with a tray, but will also visit hanging feeders.
- Cardinals rely on seedheads and berries throughout the colder months, so don't remove fading flowers that seed at the end of the growing season.
- For cardinals, a slightly deeper birdbath (around 2 or 3 inches) is best, and the water must be regularly changed and properly cleaned.
By following these tips, you can transform your garden into a cardinal haven, providing a source of food, shelter, and enjoyment for these beautiful birds.
