Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal in Michigan

Cardinalis cardinalis

Identification. Brilliant red male with black face mask and pointed crest. Female buffy-tan with red wash on wings, crest, and tail. Loud whistled 'cheer-cheer-cheer' or 'birdie-birdie-birdie' song.

Status in Michigan. Common year-round resident in southern and central Michigan; expanding north. Northern Cardinal has been steadily expanding its range northward over the past century. The species is now common across the entire Lower Peninsula and is increasingly reported in the eastern and central Upper Peninsula. Cardinals do not migrate; expansion happens through young birds dispersing into newly available habitat.

Habitat. Brushy edges, suburban yards with shrubs, woodland edges, hedgerows.

Where to find Northern Cardinal. Year-round at backyard feeders across the Lower Peninsula. Northward expansion in the UP makes any cardinal sighting north of Marquette worth documenting in eBird.

Best Michigan counties for Northern Cardinal. All Lower Peninsula counties, Marquette, Chippewa. Click any county above to see recent Northern Cardinal sightings and hotspot information.

Conservation. Stable, expanding. No conservation concern.

The sightings table below this section pulls live Northern Cardinal reports from eBird across all 83 Michigan counties, refreshed every 15 minutes. For comprehensive historical records and global range information, the eBird species profile and Cornell Lab of Ornithology Birds of the World account are the authoritative references.

Edited by Chris Izworski, Bay City, Michigan. Sightings data from eBird, updated every 15 minutes.