Northern cardinal, the state bird of West Virginia

How to recognize it

The northern cardinal is about 8 to 9 inches long. The male is red all over and has a pointed crest. The female is a duller color but has the same crest, the same heavy pink bill and a fairly long tail. The song is a loud, rich whistle, often written as what-cheer, cheer, cheer or purty-purty-purty, and the call is a sharp, metallic chip.

How it lives

Cardinals live in brushy and semi-open country, such as woodland edges, thickets, suburban gardens, town parks and forest clearings. They mostly feed by hopping on the ground or in low shrubs, eating seeds, insects such as beetles and caterpillars, and wild berries, and they come readily to feeders for sunflower seed. The female builds an open cup nest 3 to 10 feet up in thick shrubbery and may raise two or three broods a year.

Where to see one in West Virginia

Cardinals live in West Virginia all year, so they can be found in any season, in backyards, at feeders, and along brushy woodland edges and in town parks.

Doing well

Audubon describes the northern cardinal as widespread and abundant, with a range that has grown over the last century or more and a stable population.

The state bird since 1949

A 1949 resolution let public school pupils and civic groups choose a state bird and a state tree. The cardinal won easily, beating 10 other birds by more than 11,000 votes, and the sugar maple was chosen as the tree. Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio and Virginia also have the cardinal as their state bird.