Northern Cardinal
Northern Cardinal has held roughly steady: down 4% on the route-weighted index since 1968.
About the Northern Cardinal
A brilliant red, crested songbird of woodland edges, gardens and thickets, the Northern Cardinal is a year-round favorite across the eastern and central United States.
- Size
- 8.5–9 in long, about 1.6 oz (21–23 cm, 45 g)
- Habitat
- Woodlands and forest edges, including wooded suburbs and parks.
- Diet
- Seeds, grains and fruit, with insects fed to nestlings.
- Range
- Recorded on 2,660 Breeding Bird Survey routes across 42 states, most concentrated in the Appalachian Mountains.
- Family
- Cardinalidae · Forest birds
- Conservation
- Least Concern
Notable Northern Cardinal Trends
No notable trend signals for Northern Cardinal. See the full index history below.
Northern Cardinal Population Forecast
If the recent trend holds, Northern Cardinal is projected to stay roughly flat through 2029, near 19 (95% range 15–22). A 5-year backtest shows a typical error of ±9.9%, with 100% of held-out values landing inside the 95% band.
| Year | Projected index | 95% low | 95% high |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 19 | 15 | 22 |
| 2026 | 19 | 15 | 22 |
| 2027 | 19 | 15 | 22 |
| 2028 | 19 | 15 | 22 |
| 2029 | 19 | 15 | 22 |
Where the Northern Cardinal Is Detected
BBS routes recording Northern Cardinal, sized by most recent count.
Northern Cardinal Population Trend by State
| Alabama | -12% | 1968 | 109 |
| Arizona | +99% | 1970 | 39 |
| Arkansas | -1% | 1969 | 62 |
| California | insufficient data | n/a | 2 |
| Colorado | insufficient data | n/a | 2 |
| Connecticut | +279% | 1968 | 20 |
| Delaware | +114% | 1968 | 17 |
| Florida | +12% | 1968 | 127 |
| Georgia | +3% | 1968 | 111 |
| Illinois | +75% | 1968 | 105 |
| Indiana | +37% | 1968 | 69 |
| Iowa | +99% | 1969 | 38 |
| Kansas | +119% | 1969 | 60 |
| Kentucky | -14% | 1968 | 64 |
| Louisiana | +34% | 1969 | 100 |
| Maine | 49× | 1974 | 40 |
| Maryland | +68% | 1968 | 76 |
| Massachusetts | 60× | 1969 | 32 |
| Michigan | +147% | 1968 | 89 |
| Minnesota | +275% | 1969 | 51 |
| Mississippi | -4% | 1968 | 74 |
| Missouri | +24% | 1969 | 95 |
| Nebraska | +178% | 1969 | 57 |
| New Hampshire | 178× | 1972 | 23 |
| New Jersey | +156% | 1968 | 44 |
| New Mexico | +207% | 1992 | 6 |
| New York | +389% | 1968 | 120 |
| North Carolina | -16% | 1968 | 111 |
| North Dakota | insufficient data | n/a | 3 |
| Ohio | +107% | 1968 | 89 |
| Oklahoma | +66% | 1969 | 68 |
| Pennsylvania | +80% | 1968 | 137 |
| Rhode Island | 45× | 1968 | 7 |
| South Carolina | -21% | 1968 | 51 |
| South Dakota | +206% | 1988 | 14 |
| Tennessee | -20% | 1968 | 55 |
| Texas | +25% | 1969 | 222 |
| Vermont | +869% | 1968 | 24 |
| Virginia | -22% | 1968 | 88 |
| West Virginia | +4% | 1968 | 63 |
| Wisconsin | +237% | 1968 | 95 |
| Wyoming | insufficient data | n/a | 1 |
Northern Cardinal Population Trend by Region
Bird Conservation Regions are the ecological unit for trends.
| Prairie Potholes | +145% | 1969 | 47 |
| Boreal Hardwood Transition | 11× | 1969 | 77 |
| Lower Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Plain | +273% | 1968 | 84 |
| Atlantic Northern Forest | 44× | 1969 | 106 |
| Shortgrass Prairie | -71% | 1969 | 24 |
| Central Mixed Grass Prairie | +144% | 1969 | 124 |
| Edwards Plateau | +40% | 1969 | 20 |
| Oaks and Prairies | +76% | 1969 | 74 |
| Eastern Tallgrass Prairie | +82% | 1968 | 277 |
| Prairie Hardwood Transition | +216% | 1968 | 161 |
| Central Hardwoods | -1% | 1968 | 166 |
| West Gulf Coastal Plain / Ouachitas | +23% | 1969 | 110 |
| Mississippi Alluvial Valley | +10% | 1968 | 73 |
| Southeastern Coastal Plain | -2% | 1968 | 346 |
| Appalachian Mountains | +21% | 1968 | 403 |
| Piedmont | +52% | 1968 | 172 |
| New England / Mid-Atlantic Coast | +58% | 1968 | 164 |
| Peninsular Florida | -13% | 1968 | 82 |
| Sonoran and Mojave Deserts | +24% | 1970 | 21 |
| Sierra Madre Occidental | +28% | 1970 | 19 |
| Chihuahuan Desert | +335% | 1969 | 27 |
| Tamaulipan Brushlands | +7% | 1969 | 28 |
| Gulf Coastal Prairie | +61% | 1969 | 47 |
Northern Cardinal Conservation Status
Least Concern
The IUCN Red List rates this species as Least Concern. Our route-weighted index shows it down about 4% since 1968.
Source: USGS North American Breeding Bird Survey, retrieved 2026-05-22. Trend is a route-weighted relative-abundance index, not an absolute population.