We have a variety of Cardinal gifts here at Jeannie's Cottage. They include Redford the Beanie Baby (not shown), two plush Cardinals made by Wild Republic which are part of their Audubon Bird series , a resin plaque from New Creative 
Enterprises (not shown), a keepsake box from K&M, 4 cardinal ornaments, a little tealite holder, and a flower pot. Check our Gift Shop for Cardinal gifts.
The male Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is unmistakable. It is bright red with crest, a black face and stout red bill. The female is a light brown edged with red on the crest, wings and tail. This is our only crested bird with a conical beak except in the Southwest, where it is replaced by the Pyrrhuloxia. The Cardinal is about 8 to 9 inches (20-23 cm) long.
The Cardinal feeds on grape, holly, blackberry, wild seeds and many kinds of insects. It likes to feed on the ground in the open and nests in thickets. Gardens are a favorite place. It does not migrate and stays around bird feeders even during cold northern winters, but it does best during mild winters. They frequent woodland edges, thickets, brushy swamps and garden suburbs.The voice is a rich what-cheer, cheer, cheer; purty-purty-purty-purty or sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet.
Three or four pale greenish blue eggs (1.0 x .7 inch) spotted with reddish brown are laid in a nest made of twigs, rootlets, strips of bark and lined with grasses and rootlets in thick bushes or vines 2-10 feet high. Rarely up to 30 feet. The incubation period is 11 to 13 days.
The Cardinal is a resident in the eastern United States and southern Canada south to the Gulf Coast, and from southern California, Arizona and southern Texas southward.
