Everyone wants to see these beautiful red birds! They’re a winter favorite and a staple in holiday advertising.
Lucky for you cardinals are abundant and easy to attract. Learn how to attract cardinals to bird feeders with these 5 easy steps.
While these tips are foolproof for backyard birds, they won’t help the Arizona Cardinals. Honestly, given how the Bills are handling them in the standings this year, we’re starting to think it's because the Bills love birds (we see you, Sedrick Van Pran-Granger!)
It looks like the Cardinals could learn a thing or two about flight from their bird-loving competition.
1. Cardinals Love These Foods!
Cardinals are granivorous birds which means they eat mostly grains and seeds. They’ll eat other foods like insects and fruits to supplement their diet when they feel like it. The best way to attract cardinals in winter is with their favorite foods.
Black Oil Sunflower Seeds
Cardinals love this seed because it’s easy to crack and attracts the widest variety of birds. It’s nutrient dense with a high fat and high protein content, especially for winter bird feeders.
If you're wondering how to attract cardinals this winter, black oil sunflower seed are the best bird seed for the job.
Wagner's Black Oil Sunflower Seeds
Shelled Nuts
Shelled nuts like peanuts, pecans, and almonds make less mess but nuts in the shell can work, too. Nuts are a great source of protein and fat for cardinals especially in winter. You can also include shelled sunflower seeds, often called sunflower hearts.
- Tip: Never feed birds or wild animals salted nuts. The salt on nuts for humans is too much for birds and can cause their kidneys to overwork and possibly cause kidney failure.
Berries and Fruit
The bushes and dense shrubs that these berries grow on are natural shelter for cardinals. Planting them in your yard greatly increases your chances of them sticking around! Plants that attract cardinals will also attract many other birds like sparrows, wrens, yellow warblers, robins, and many songbirds.
You can include blackberries, apple slices, blueberries, and mulberries with their bird seed as a treat.
Plants that attract cardinals like fruiting bushes and shrubs for food and shelter include arrowwood, elderberry, holly, dogwood, and beautyberry.
You can also use dried fruit as long as it doesn't have added sugar. I personally find it difficult to find plain dried fruit but it does exist.
Safflower Seeds
These seeds are like a "secret weapon" because most birds like cardinals love safflower seeds, but squirrels and grackles hate the bitter taste, making them the second best bird seed for cardinals. You can cater to birds without attracting pests.
Ideally, safflower seeds for cardinals won't just attract cardinals in winter but will actively deter bully birds.
2. Choose a Cardinal Bird Feeder
Cardinals are foragers. They’re used to finding seeds and insects on the ground. You want to choose a bird feeder that caters to their natural instincts.
Tray or platform feeders, and hopper feeders are the best choices for attracting cardinals.
Platform (Tray) Feeders
Platform feeders, also known as tray feeders, are a shallow tray that can be hung up or placed on the ground. These are one of the best cardinal bird feeders because they love the wide open space for feeding. It's similar to how they naturally forage.
Ground placement has the caveat of being exposed to the elements and pests. Mice and squirrels will have easy access. Window-mounted feeders are also a type of platform feeder.
DutchCrafters Amish Roof Platform Feeder
This bird feeder is Made in USA (in Indiana). There are a few other companies that offer bird feeders made in the USA that you'll see around.
They sport a sleek design and quality build using durable materials that can last longer than traditional wood-built bird feeders.
Hopper Feeders
Hopper feeders are gravity feeders that keep seed enclosed and dry in a compartment (the hopper) and dispense seed to a tray. They're one of the best cardinal bird feeder because of how it dispenses seed to a small platform.
They often look like a small house or barn but simpler designs are an enclosed tube with a roof. Smart feeders are usually a kind of hopper feeder.
The Beako smart feeder is a solar powered, all-weather design smart feeder. It has a removable battery, fully solar-powered, and an IP65 waterproof rating and durability from -4°F to 122°F.
The Livestream video doesn't require any subscription. Some advanced features like the AI species detection require a subscription.
Metal Hopper Bird Feeder with Roof
This is a great simple hopper feeder. Reviewers call it sturdy and durable--- a great quality incase they get knocked over in high wind.
3. Give Cardinals a Bird Bath
Unfrozen water is essential for attracting cardinals in winter. Birds need water for drinking and bathing all year round. Since many natural water sources freeze in winter, birds are limited for where to get water.
Choose a heated bird bath to make your yard a cardinal haven this winter.
You can also buy a bird bath deicer you can use in your existing bird bath. They’re easy to use and safe for birds.
Heated bird baths and de-icers are thermoregulated with a built-in thermometer that automatically turns it ON or OFF so it can’t overheat and hurt birds.
Make sure the de-icer is fully submerged in the water if you use one. Heated bird baths like the one above have an enclosed heating element that you don't need to worry about.
See 10 Best Bird Baths for Attracting Birds in Winter for more winter bird bath options and tips to get the most out of your bird bath.
They even make cardinal bird baths with pictures of cardinals or figurines. Most of these are glass bird baths, though, so we recommend using them only in warmer weather.
4. Locate your Bird Feeder in a Safe Place
Cardinals want to feel protected when they’re eating. Many birds at your feeder look for a source of cover from birds of prey who might swoop down and eat them. Placing your feeders near natural cover like shrubs where small birds can hide is ideal. Make sure to avoid placing cardinal bird feeders and bird baths near natural perches where prey can easily grab them.
An ideal distance is about 10 to 15 feet away from the house to prevent them from flying into windows.
Birds can’t tell what windows are, making them easy for birds to crash into. If you’re limited on space and must place feeders near your windows consider adding anti-collision decals. The reflective surface helps birds know to avoid them.
Anti-Collision Decals for Windows
5. Add Natural Sources of Food and Shelter
Plants for cardinals are ones that provide natural shelter and food. Consider planting hedges, shrubs, and fruiting plants like holly or juniper in the spring when the ground isn't frozen— they love berries!
Natural shelter is a MUST for cardinals since they don't use bird houses. They're open nesters which means they make nests in foliage like shrubs, thickets, or trees instead of cavities in tree trunks.
hink hydrangeas, arrowwood, holly, and spruce. These short, dense plants are how you can attract cardinals all the while making your yard pretty!
Cardinal “Sins” to avoid
A pun I couldn’t pass up and a few common mistakes that can deter birds like cardinals from your yard without realizing it.
Chemicals and pesticides
Yard treatment chemicals like weed killers and mosquito repellents can greatly harm the natural balance in the ecosystem. Many chemicals directly harm birds, wildlife, and insect populations, a core food group for birds. Fledglings especially need insect protein to thrive.
Yard treatment chemicals have a direct effect on birds' ability to feed and reproduce. Pesticides and other chemicals can impair the food web and reproduction cycles of birds and their food sources, creating lasting effects.
Placing bird feeders near predator accessible areas
The best cardinal bird feeder is one safe from predators.
Feeders out in the open where birds of prey can dive bomb or swoop in for their next meal aren't inviting environments. Use natural plants and predator guards to obfuscate the cardinals' feeders and bird baths.
Predator guards are anything that make it difficult for large birds, rodents and other pests unable to eat the birds or their bird food. Some feeders come with predator guards but you can always buy more.
Squirrels are ubiquitous with bird feeders, for example. People go to great lengths to deter squirrels from bird feeders like using slinkies on bird feeder posts to setting booby traps!
Unstable Bird Feeders & Wind
The second best cardinal bird feeder is a sturdy one.
Nothing’s worse than a feeder that’s unstable, tilted, or just falls over at a moment’s notice! If using a post or pole make sure it’s deep enough in the ground to stay upright.
Use extra stakes, sand bags, or even tie downs to help.
Make sure to take bird feeders indoors when it gets windy. Even the sturdiest feeders can be knocked over with high winds. This also keeps cardinals and other birds safe from bird feeders becoming projectiles in high winds.
Bring in your bird feeders during thunder storms, tornado warnings, and hurricanes to keep them from breaking or spilling bird seed everywhere.
Frozen water in your bird bath
Simply add a deicer (heater) to an existing bird bath to improve your odds of attracting as many birds as you can. Natural water sources are limited in the winter when they freeze. You can try adding floating objects, too, since moving water is less likely to freeze.
A bird bath for cardinals in the winter is only helpful if it's unfrozen. Deicers are safe and inexpensive. You'll likely need an outdoor extension cord because the cords are usually short.
Bird Bath Deicer with Auto Shut Off
A multipurpose deicer with a higher auto shut off temperature at 95°F, making it ideal for ponds, ducks, chickens, and more.
The Best Bird Watching App for Friends and Singles
We know not everyone can be the best but we're here for you, Arizona Cardinals. Just download the Sparkbird App in the Apple Store. You'll find more bird watching tips, local birding groups, community, and more.
We think bird watching groups are a great way to make new friends with less social anxiety and pressure to perform.
Want Sparkbird bird watching groups in your city? Let us know on the app. Maybe your city will be the first!
- Related: How to Use the Sparkbird App
