Bird of the Day - Northern Cardinal

Male Northern Cardinal

Female Northern Cardinal

The Bird of the Day today is the northern cardinal.  It has one of the easier scientific names to remember - Cardinalis cardinalis.

The range of the northern cardinal goes from the southern half of Minnesota to the Baja Peninsula, covering most of the eastern United States and Mexico.

It is in the family Cardinalidae.  That family includes such birds as the tanagers, dickcissel, various buntings, and many of the grosbeaks.

I saw the pictured northern cardinals in Roseville, Minnesota.  They can be challenging to photograph since they do not stay still for long periods of time.  Both of these pictures were taken through a window.

Both the male and female northern cardinals sing throughout most of the year.  One of the variations of their song is "cheer, cheer, cheer!"