Cardinals are favorites at backyard bird feeders. Shy and skittish as adults, young Northern Cardinals are actually rather calm and slow moving compared to other nestling songbirds. Cardinals are members of the Finch family and have large beaks for shelling seeds, a staple of their adult diet. Young Cardinals have gray beaks that turn red as they mature. Female Cardinals usually build the cup shaped nest in dense thickets, and the young are fed many insects. Adult males are territorial in breeding season, and will attack their reflection in windows (see Myths & Misconceptions for more information about this phenomenon and what to do about it).

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