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   * Cardinals
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   * Hawks
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 * General Facts
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 * Equipment Tips
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   * Cardinal Feeders
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WHY ARE CARDINALS RED?

Written by Torrie Reed in Cardinals


Who doesn’t love northern cardinals? It’s a good thing that they are so popular
because they are very common across the south and east of our country and are
incredibly easy to identify and observe in the wild. Have you ever been sitting
watching your cardinal bird feeder and wondered, or perhaps even your kid has
asked you “why are cardinals red?”

Don’t worry if you have because it is probably a more commonly asked question
than you think. You see, we all love watching our favorite birds, but never
really give much thought as to the biology involved in their coloring. Most just
take it as fact that that’s the way it is, without wondering why.

As we hope you will agree from the post, however, digging a little deeper and
finding out the why behind cardinal’s color, as well as the color of our other
feathery friends is very fascinating.

Did you know, for instance, that the red feathers are a result of pigments that
reflect the color red? What’s more, did you know cardinals can’t produce the red
pigments on their own without eating specific foods?

A little lost? Don’t worry as we are going to explain all that.

Contents [show]

 * 1 How Birds Feathers Get Their Vivid Colors
 * 2 How Cardinals Get Their Vivid Red Feathers – Carotenoid Pigments
 * 3 Male Birds With the Brightest Feathers Attract The Female Birds
 * 4 Why Are Male Cardinals Red And Female and Young Cardinals Brown?
 * 5 Leucitic and Albino Cardinals
 * 6 Do Cardinals Get Redder in Winter?
 * 7 Yellow Northern Cardinal
 * 8 Have You Ever Seen the Black-Headed Punk-Looking Cardinal?


HOW BIRDS FEATHERS GET THEIR VIVID COLORS

Basically, there are two main mechanisms that produce the colors displayed by
birds’ feathers:

 * Pigments
 * Structural properties

Each of these mechanisms produces specific colors and they can be combined to
form other colors.

Birds feathers’ structural features can function in a similar way to microscopic
prisms that scatter, refract and reflect light to give all the individual
feathers their colors. This is what provides many birds with the iridescence or
blue color they often have.

Whereas, pigments are special substances, that give objects colors in relation
to the light wavelengths they reflect and absorb. Take for instance the red
cardinal feathers. They have red pigment in them that reflects the wavelength
for the color red, which is why we see it, while it absorbs all the other
colors.

There are three specific pigments that produce the colors of bird feathers:

 * Porphyrins – these are created by amino acid modification and are the rarest
   of the following two pigments. They can produce colors like greens, browns,
   reds and pinks.
 * Carotenoids – these are pigments that produce the bright yellow, oranges and
   red colors you see on many birds’ feathers. Melanins (which we are about to
   discuss) and carotenoids often work together to produce more intricate tones
   and colors such as olive green.
 * Melanins – if you know anything about human skin color, you may already be
   familiar with Melanins as they are the exact same pigment found inside all of
   us. They are in birds’ feathers and skin and produce a range of colors from
   reddish browns to brown and black, as well as pale yellows, depending on the
   concentration and where they’re located. Melanins are also responsible for
   giving the feathers durability and strength.


HOW CARDINALS GET THEIR VIVID RED FEATHERS – CAROTENOID PIGMENTS

It’s time to focus on one of the pigments we just highlighted above to discover
more about how cardinals get their vivid red plumage. It all comes down to the
carotenoids. Along with numerous other yellow, orange and red birds, the
cardinal gets its coloring from eating parts of plants, seeds and fruit rich in
carotenoids.

It’s no coincidence that carrots are called that name as they are rich in
carotenoids and it’s the pigment that gives them their vibrant orange coloring.

Rather than there just being on single pigment, there are a wide variety of
carotenoids with differing colors that range from yellow to orange and red. The
stunningly bright red berries produced by the dogwood tree is one of cardinals’
favorite foods and these are rich in carotenoids.

The berries are metabolized in the birds along with other red-colored foods rich
in carotenoids which are then sent through the cardinal’s bloodstream to the
growing follicles of their feathers. Although carotenoids do not give feathers
that are fully grown extra color, they do provide new feathers with color.

When a cardinal does not get enough food rich in these important carotenoids,
the red hues of their feathers dull when they molt. However, if they are then
able to find the right food again, newer feathers will have the beautiful red
coloring again.


MALE BIRDS WITH THE BRIGHTEST FEATHERS ATTRACT THE FEMALE BIRDS

The color of the males is what influences the female cardinals into choosing the
right mate. In the cardinal’s world, males with bright red feathers are
considered to be healthy and fit, as they must be able to find the protein and
carotenoid pigment-rich food to look so good. It is also a sign that he is
probably going to be better at holding his own to secure his territory and
provide better care for his young.

A male with duller colors could be a sign that he is not as healthy or strong as
others to help him establish and retain a reasonably sized territory so he has
access to the best food, not just for him, but also for any future mate he
breeds with and their subsequent chicks.

Although this correlation between fitness and color is strongly upheld in rural
areas, the same cannot be said for urban environments. As there are a few other
factors that could play a part in how red male cardinals are in these areas.
Although there tends to be a lot more Amur Honeysuckle available, a plant that
many berry-eating birds, including cardinals, love, it may not be all good for
the cardinal.

This plant does have high levels of carotenoids but does not really have the
right levels of fat and protein to really keep cardinals healthy.

Conversely, sunflower seeds are used often in cardinal bird feeders and many
cardinals love them. True, they are extremely high in fat and protein, but
sunflower seeds lack the appropriate levels of carotenoids. The result is that
cardinals what tend to eat a lot of sunflower seeds often have duller feathers
and coloring than birds that eat other food. Even if they are still incredibly
fit and healthy.


WHY ARE MALE CARDINALS RED AND FEMALE AND YOUNG CARDINALS BROWN?

You will notice that although healthy males are vibrantly red in color, the
female and younger cardinals have a more muted hue. Females in general are pale
brown with slight accents of red on their tail, crest and wings. The young
cardinals tend to have just a bit of red on the tail and their wings.

This is for their own protection. As noted above, male cardinals need to be as
bright red as possible to secure mates. Females and chicks on the other hand
need to be able to camouflage so they are protected from predators.


LEUCITIC AND ALBINO CARDINALS

On occasion you may come across a pale or even white bird that resembles a
cardinal but looks as if it has been whitewashed. Leucitic and Albino cardinals
are those that lack sufficient melanin pigments, meaning their feathers have a
light or even white coloring. If they still have a rich supply of carotenoid
pigments, though, they will have a unique but pretty and gentle pink color.

Cardinals that are genuinely albino can’t produce any melanin, meaning their
skill and feathers will both lack pigmentation. As their eyes will also be
affected, they will look red.

Unfortunately, albino cardinals don’t tend to have long lifespans when living in
the wild because their eyesight isn’t strong enough. Melanin is important to
vision and helps to protect them from the harmful UV rays from the sun.

Leucism is a curious condition that causes the affected animal to lose some of
its pigmentation. This can result in them having patchy, pale or even white skin
and feathers. It doesn’t affect their eyes, though.


DO CARDINALS GET REDDER IN WINTER?

Cardinals suffer from feather wear every year during wintertime. What some
birdwatchers are puzzled by, and if you have experienced this as well, we want
to hear from you, is why it seems as if some cardinals get redder during winter.

If they are actually redder than usual, there are two theories – it could simply
be that there is a greater amount of red pigment in the feathers that increases
the intensity of that handsome red color or it could just be that it is whatever
they ate before the molted during the summer and fall seasons.


YELLOW NORTHERN CARDINAL

We’ve covered this elsewhere on BirdWatchingBuzz, but it was worth listing it as
part of this article as it relates to color.

There are some northern cardinals that are not red at all, they’re yellow. You
can find out more by reading this article, but it appears to be caused by a
genetic issue known as xanthochromism, which basically means they have lost much
of their darker pigments making the yellow colors more pronounced or they have
an overload of yellow pigment.

There is also the thought, however, that it could be down to a dietary issue,
where birds are not getting the sufficient amount of carotenoid-rich foods.


HAVE YOU EVER SEEN THE BLACK-HEADED PUNK-LOOKING CARDINAL?

Another rare curiosity that you may come across in your birdwatching adventures
is a cardinal that is rocking a vulture look with most of their feathers missing
from their head. What causes this?

There are two lines of thought:

 * It is down to the way they molt
 * It is because they had mites that ate the feathers. Although cardinals can
   obviously remove mites from other parts of their bodies, they can’t get to
   their heads to do it.

There is strong evidence to suggest that the former rather than the latter
theory is more likely the truth. Often, these punk-inspired cardinals still have
crests.

So, there you have it folks, you now know a little bit more about why cardinals
are so red. It’s a fascinating subject and hopefully we didn’t dumb down the
science too much for the scholarly types and didn’t overload those who would
rather skip the biology lesson with too many boring facts.

Have you ever seen any of the curious alternatives to the standard red cardinal?
Let us know in the comments section!


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TORRIE REED



We believe that learning about birds and animals in general need not be a boring
and tedious activity, so we try our best to write about them in simple, yet
engaging and relevant terms, and thus spread our love of birds to the wider
community.

Are There Yellow Cardinals?
When Do Cardinals Lay Eggs?


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