Tips on Placing a Birdhouse for Cardinals in your Garden

The male cardinal in his bright red plumage, and his more subtly attired, though just as pretty mate, offer an elegant, cheery addition to any back yard. They will delight you with their songs and their characteristics, such as the male offering seeds to his mate, and her eagerly accepting, or their swooping flight from bush to bush. Cardinals are among the most popular song birds in their territory, the Eastern U.S., and for good reason. Here are some tips for attracting a pair of Cardinals to your back yard, hopefully to nest and stay long-term.

The first tip is to provide the kinds of food they prefer. Select a medium-sized birdhouse and place it near the garden. Fill the birdhouse with the types of seeds that Cardinals enjoy most, namely Sunflower and Safflower seeds. One note on Safflower – they are one of the few birds who eat it, so filling a feeder with just Safflower may keep them around by reducing a crowd of other species at their special feeder. They will also consume nuts, dried fruit and berries, and seed mixed with peanut butter. Any house or feeder used for Cardinals should have a perch that makes it easier for them to access the contents. They are a larger bird and often prefer to feed on the ground, so scattering food for them there will be appreciated, too.

Having plenty of their favorites on hand will bring them around. They will also enjoy getting a drink at a birdbath, so locating one in your garden is a way to attract Cardinals in for a visit. To get them to stay is a bit tougher. While they will enjoy feeding from the birdhouse you set out for them, they prefer to nest in bushes and thickets, crafting cup-shaped nests which they often locate in the crooks of small or medium branches where cover is thick and concealing. Small evergreens, bushy shrubs, or thickets of honeysuckle are places Cardinals will often build their nests. Planting a variety of these near the food supply you leave for them will certainly make your yard an inviting choice for a permanent address. Also consider planting mulberry, grape, hackberry, blackberry, sumac, or serviceberry in the landscape, since Cardinals enjoy the tasty fruits these plants bear. An alternative to a standard birdhouse that may attract them is a platform-type that replicates a stable area among braces. Locate it near the base of a shrub or evergreen, and 2-5 feet off the ground.

If you are fortunate enough to attract a pair of Cardinals with the accommodations you have provided, it is likely that they will stay nearby for years, since they do not migrate and rarely roam very far. When their young come, you’ll see them leading the little ones to the feeders to teach them how to feed after they’ve left the nest. And their complex, lovely songs will become welcomed and cherished.

Other than the Safflower, what attracts Cardinals will also attract Blue Jays, Rose Breasted Grosbeak, Evening Grosbeak, and other very fine birds. So, while you may hope for a pair of Cardinals, you will certainly get something to enrich your bird watching and increase the feathered activity in and around your garden.

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