Think Twice Before Adding A Birdhouse In Your Yard If You Want To Attract Cardinals

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Bird watching is a popular pastime. In fact, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, there were about 96 million birders over 16 years old in the U.S. in 2022. One of the most popular birds among birdwatchers is the Northern cardinal, most commonly seen on the eastern side of the U.S. from Maine all the way down to south Florida and as far west as Texas. It is not unusual to see them as far north as Canada and in the southwest areas of the U.S. in Arizona, New Mexico, and even down into Mexico, too. If you want to attract these brightly-colored birds to your yard, birdhouses won't do the trick for one reason: cardinals prefer building their nests in bushes, trees, and similar greenery such as some of these easy to grow plants. Due to their nesting preferences, they will leave birdhouses, no matter how spacious and pretty, sitting empty.

There are many effective ways to get birds to flock to your yard, but if you specifically want to attract cardinals, there are several tried and true methods that work well to make your yard inviting to these colorful songbirds. Find out how to make your yard an inviting place for cardinals by offering the right type of seeds and fruits, providing them with nesting materials, and choosing what foliage to plant.

Many homeowners love to add birdhouses to their outdoor décor, and for good reason, since they add visual appeal and an adorable outdoor feature. However, cardinals' nesting habits are different than most birds, as they won't use birdhouses to nest. They also never use their nests more than once, meaning that you need to provide them with lots of nesting areas. Ideal options include a lot of thick bushes and trees. Planting a variety of bushes and evergreen foliage such as dogwood, spruce, pine, and honeysuckle will give them shelter all year long.

Cardinals make their nests with a variety of materials found around the yard. You can provide nesting materials for them including small twigs, pine needles, dog fur, hair, and yarn. Place the nesting materials in an area where they can easily find them and where they might build their nest close by. 

Water and food are very important to attracting cardinals, too. A reliable water source should be kept clean and free from algae year round and heated during the winter. Large bird baths 2 to 3 inches deep or bird waterers like this Kingsyard 24 ounce Bird Waterer are ideal water sources. Cardinals love black oil sunflower seeds and safflower seeds. They will also eat broken peanuts, mealworms, berries, and apple slices. Bird feeders should have strong perches or platforms and offer plenty of room for cardinals to sit securely as they eat. You can even upgrade your birdhouses in this clever way that turns them into feeders.