{"id":218,"date":"2020-03-12T00:51:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-12T00:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/whatbirdsareinmybackyard.com\/where-do-northern-cardinals-live\/"},"modified":"2024-01-17T04:25:59","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T04:25:59","slug":"where-do-northern-cardinals-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatbirdsareinmybackyard.com\/where-do-northern-cardinals-live\/","title":{"rendered":"Where do Northern Cardinals live?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The bright red Northern Cardinals live year-round in woods and backyards. They do not migrate. <\/b>They are found in the Eastern United States and the Southern and parts of the Southwestern United States. They barely reach the southeastern parts of Canada. They are found throughout much of Mexico and Central America.<\/p>\n

Are there any cardinals where you live? If you are unsure, keep reading, because I list the locations in detail below. Then I tell about the particular habitats they like. If they live in your area, but don’t visit your backyard, I tell you what plants you can add to your landscaping to attract them.<\/p>\n

This page is a supplement to my Overview of Northern Cardinal<\/a><\/b>. The overview page leads to more in-depth pages about cardinals: what they look like, what they eat, where they nest. I’ll link back to that overview page again at the end of this article.<\/p>\n

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\"Photo<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Northern Cardinal in the Northeastern U.S.
\nImage by tlparadis from Pixabay<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/span>Range and seasonal movements<\/span><\/h2>\n

Northern Cardinals are resident where they occur. They do not migrate but stay in the same area all year long.<\/p>\n

There is some dispersal by the young-of-the-year into nearby areas. The range is slowly expanding northward into southernmost Canada.<\/p>\n

In general, Northern Cardinals are resident from Guatemala and Belize north throughout nearly all of Mexico. Then they live from Arizona eastward in eastern half of North America to southern Canada. They live in the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, and parts of the Southwest regions of the United States. More exact locations are listed below.<\/p>\n

Where do Northern Cardinals live in summer and winter?<\/h3>\n

As mentioned, cardinals do not migrate. So they are found year-round wherever they occur. At the edge of their range single birds may show up every once in a while, perhaps almost every year, and stay around for a few months.<\/p>\n

For the next lists of cardinals in different regions of the United States and Canada I have used data for the past 10 years from the website eBird.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Northern Cardinals in the Northeast United States<\/h4>\n

Northern Cardinals are very common in the Northeast. The only area where they are rare is in northern Maine<\/b>. Otherwise, they are found throughout Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania<\/b>.<\/p>\n

Northern Cardinals live in…<\/b><\/p>\n