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The '''northern cardinal''' ('''''Cardinalis cardinalis'''''), known colloquially as the '''common cardinal''', '''red cardinal''', or just '''cardinal''', is a bird in the genus ''[[Cardinalis]]''. It can be found in southeastern Canada, through the eastern United States from [[Maine]] to [[Minnesota]] to [[Texas]], [[New Mexico]], southern [[Arizona]], southern California
The northern cardinal is a mid-sized [[Passerine|perching]] [[songbird]] with a body length of {{convert|21-23|cm|in|abbr=on}} and a crest on the top of the head. The species expresses [[sexual dimorphism]]: Females are a reddish olive color, and have a gray mask around the beak, while males are a vibrant red color, and have a black mask on the face, as well as a larger crest. Juvenile cardinals do not have the distinctive red-orange beak seen in adult birds until they are almost fully mature. On hatching, their beaks are grayish-black and they do not become the trademark orange-red color until they acquire their final adult plumage in the fall.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Juvenile Cardinals (Identification Guide with Pictures) |url=https://birdfact.com/articles/juvenile-cardinals |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=Birdfact |language=en}}</ref>
The northern cardinal is mainly [[Seed predation|granivorous]]
==Taxonomy==
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| year =1921
| pages =[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_6w0LAAAAIAAJ/page/n604 500]
| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_6w0LAAAAIAAJ}}</ref> In 1983, the scientific name was changed again to ''Cardinalis cardinalis'' and the common name was changed to "northern cardinal"
The cardinal is named after [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinals]] of the [[Roman Catholic Church]], who wear distinctive red robes and caps.<ref name="Holloway">{{cite book|last= Holloway|first= Joel Ellis|title= Dictionary of Birds of the United States: Scientific and Common Names|publisher= [[Workman Publishing Company|Timber Press]]|year= 2003|pages= 59|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=41knpiVqnKYC&q=Cathartes+aura+subject:%22Nature+/+Birds+%26+Birdwatching%22&pg=PA59|isbn= 0-88192-600-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url= http://bangordailynews.com/2012/09/21/outdoors/proliferation-of-cardinals-a-fairly-recent-event/?ref=mostReadBoxLiving|title= Proliferation of cardinals a fairly recent event|first= Bob|last= Duchesne|date= 2012-09-21|newspaper= [[Bangor Daily News]]|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141006093138/http://bangordailynews.com/2012/09/21/outdoors/proliferation-of-cardinals-a-fairly-recent-event/?ref=mostReadBoxLiving|archive-date= 2014-10-06|url-status= live}}</ref> The term "northern" in the common name refers to its range, as it is the northernmost cardinal species known.<ref name="Holloway" />
== Distribution and habitat ==
Northern cardinals are numerous across the eastern United States from the southern half of [[Maine]] to [[Minnesota]] to the [[Texas]]-Mexico border and in Canada in the southern portions of [[Ontario]], Quebec, [[New Brunswick]] and [[Nova Scotia]], all the way east to Cape Breton Island. Its range also extends south through Mexico to the [[Isthmus of Tehuantepec]], northern [[Guatemala]], and northern [[Belize]]. An [[allopatric]] population is found on the Pacific slope of Mexico from [[Jalisco]] to [[Oaxaca]] ''(this population is not shown on the range map)''. The species was introduced to [[Bermuda]] in 1700. It has also been introduced in Hawaii
In 1929, Forbush described the species as rare, and by 1955 Griscom reported the bird to be "pushing northward" when recorded annually at feeding stations. Audubon data shows that the population has grown rapidly in Massachusetts since 1960. In Massachusetts, the species is most abundant in the east, especially in areas where dense cover is interspersed with open areas, such as woodland edges, brushy fields, wooded wetlands, parks, and suburban areas. They tend to avoid extensive woodlands.<ref name=":1" />
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=== Defecation ===
Nestlings defecate in the form of a fecal sac, where the fecal matter is enclosed by a tough
== Ecology ==
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