Cardinal Help

[minnowjigger64]

We live in SW Minnesota and have tried for years to attract cardinals to our yard. We were blessed with a young male last summer who stayed for less than an hour, and had an adult male show up a few mornings ago and then again that evening for hour-long+ concerts both times. Neither time did he show any interest in our feeders or bird bath. He may have had his mate with him in the evening. I didn't have binocs handy. We haven't seen nor heard him since. Are there any other "tricks" to getting some to stay? Habitat plantings? Feeder colors or placement? We already supply a great variety of feed types suited to cardinals. We have a large variety of birds coming in to these, but would love to see that flash of red, too. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Steve Foss]

minnowjigger:

We've had a pair of cardinals in residence since last fall here in Ely in and around our back yard. We only feed black oil sunflower seed, and they come to the feeder off and on for that, as well as to a couple other similar feeding stations set up by our neighbors.

Habitat appears to be the key. The male wants fairly tall trees from which to sing on territory, but they nest in thick brush, and we have lots of both in the neighborhood. We've got heavy concentrations of elderberry, honeysuckle, lilac and other shrubby cover for them.

If you have the time and money to invest in creating such a habitat, you may have better luck attracting cardinals.

I'm not saying you don't get them at the feeder if you don't have a perfect nesting environment in your own yard, just that most folks who regularly see cardinals at their feeding stations have that kind of habitat nearby.