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Bird

Northern Cardinal

Cardinalis cardinalis

Lives in Arkansas all year and nests here. Found in all 75 counties, across 15 habitats.

Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 75 counties
Habitats
15

At a glance

Group
Birds
Here
All year
Nesting
Nests here
Range
All 75 counties
Habitats
15
Habitat models
Year-round

Where it lives

The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.

Habitats in Arkansas 15

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

1 of 15

Swamps

The Land of Evangeline
Year-roundWest Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall; Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems; Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier; Mississippi River Bottomland DepressionJoseph Rusling Meeker, The Land of Evangeline (1874): moss-hung trees over a still bayou in Louisiana swamp forest. Regional view: the painting does not name the exact site. Shown: Louisiana bayou country (Meeker, The Land of Evangeline, 1874), a neighboring state.The Land of Evangeline, Joseph Rusling Meeker, 1874. Public domain. Source record.

Disturbed and introduced wetlands

Wet ground taken over by weedy or introduced plants after disturbance, such as common reed, Chinese tallow or tamarisk stands; the upland counterpart is roadsides, fields and disturbed ground.

Year-round

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

Year-roundOzark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland; Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland; Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

Year-roundSouth-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Mississippi River Riparian Forest; Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest; West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest; West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest; Red River Large Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain; Ozark-Ouachita Riparian

Forest edges and thickets

Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.

Year-roundDisturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other); Harvested Forest - Shrub Regeneration

Forests and woodlands

Forest or woodland where the source does not say how moist or dry.

Year-roundWest Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest

Freshwater marshes

Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.

Year-roundCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.

Year-roundWest Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods; Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods; West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods

Moderately dry forests

Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.

Year-roundOzark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest

Moist forests

Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.

Year-roundWest Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest; Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

Year-roundDeveloped, Open Space; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Ruderal Upland - Old Field

Seeps and springs

Places where groundwater keeps the soil or rock wet, such as seepage slopes and spring runs.

Year-roundWest Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall

Streams, rivers and their banks

Flowing water and its banks, bars and rocky shoals.

Year-roundCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian

Tree plantations and managed pine

Planted or intensively managed stands of pine or hardwoods grown for timber; a land use rather than a natural community.

Year-roundDeciduous Plantation; Evergreen Plantation or Managed Pine; Managed Tree Plantation

Wet meadows

Open, wet, grassy or sedgy ground that is not a bog.

Year-roundCentral Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems
Other habitats in its models (166)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Arkansas. Those recorded in Arkansas first, the rest by region.

In Arkansas 4

  • Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Year-round.
  • Northern Crowley's Ridge Sand Forest Year-round.
  • Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Year-round.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
Elsewhere in the South (88)
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Maritime Forest Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Central Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Indian River Lagoon Tidal Marsh Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural Lakeshore Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed Forest Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Year-round.
  • Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest Year-round.
  • Central and Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • Central and Southern Appalachian Spruce-Fir Forest Year-round.
  • Central Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
  • Central Florida Herbaceous Pondshore Year-round.
  • Central Florida Herbaceous Seep Year-round.
  • Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Year-round.
  • Cumberland Riverscour Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Savanna and Wet Prairie Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Tidal Wooded Swamp Year-round.
  • East-Central Texas Plains Floodplain Forest Year-round.
  • East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Year-round.
  • East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Year-round.
  • Florida Big Bend Fresh-Oligohaline Tidal Marsh Year-round.
  • Florida Big Bend Salt-Brackish Tidal Marsh Year-round.
  • Florida Dry Prairie Year-round.
  • Florida Peninsula Inland Scrub Year-round.
  • Floridian Highlands Freshwater Marsh Year-round.
  • Mississippi Delta Maritime Forest Year-round.
  • Mississippi Sound Salt and Brackish Tidal Marsh Year-round.
  • Ridge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and Woodland Year-round.
  • South Florida Bayhead Swamp Year-round.
  • South Florida Cypress Dome Year-round.
  • South Florida Dwarf Cypress Savanna Year-round.
  • South Florida Everglades Sawgrass Marsh Year-round.
  • South Florida Hardwood Hammock Year-round.
  • South Florida Mangrove Swamp Year-round.
  • South Florida Pine Flatwoods Year-round.
  • South Florida Pine Rockland Year-round.
  • South Florida Wet Marl Prairie Year-round.
  • South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Wet Flatwoods Year-round.
  • South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Year-round.
  • Southeast Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Year-round.
  • Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Year-round.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Bog and Fen Year-round.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest Year-round.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald Year-round.
  • Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
  • Southern Appalachian Northern Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Herbaceous Seepage Bog Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Year-round.
  • Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Mesic Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest Year-round.
  • Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest Year-round.
  • Southwest Florida Coastal Strand and Maritime Hammock Year-round.
  • Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Year-round.
  • Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Year-round.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Year-round.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Year-round.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
  • West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
Northeast (7)
  • Appalachian Hemlock-Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Maritime Forest Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt Marsh Year-round.
  • Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest Year-round.
  • Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland Year-round.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest Year-round.
  • Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest Year-round.
Land cover and other classes (67)
  • Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood Year-round.
  • Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Forested Wetland Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Clay-Based Carolina Bay Herbaceous Wetland Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier Year-round.
  • Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall Year-round.
  • Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier Year-round.
  • Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier Year-round.
  • Developed, Low Intensity Year-round.
  • Developed, Medium Intensity Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Year-round.
  • East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Depression Pondshore Year-round.
  • Eastern Highland Rim Prairie and Barrens - Dry Modifier Year-round.
  • Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
  • Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain Swamp Systems Year-round.
  • Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain Tidal Marsh Systems Year-round.
  • Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Year-round.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Year-round.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Year-round.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Year-round.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Year-round.
  • Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Year-round.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Year-round.
  • Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
  • Orchards Vineyards and Other High Structure Agriculture Year-round.
  • Recently Burned Year-round.
  • Recently Burned Forest Year-round.
  • Recently Burned Grassland Year-round.
  • Recently Burned Shrubland Year-round.
  • Recently Logged Areas Year-round.
  • Southern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric Year-round.
  • Southern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Shrub Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Clethra Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Year-round.
  • Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression Swamp Year-round.
  • Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Year-round.
  • Unconsolidated Shore Year-round.
  • Unconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune) Year-round.
  • Unconsolidated Shore (Lake/River/Pond) Year-round.

All habitats

Seasons in Arkansas

  • Year-round: nests here, in all 75 counties.

Fruit and seed plants

Plants in genera this bird was recorded eating, from diet studies across North America. Not a record of what it eats in your state.

19 native plants in Arkansas. 1 not suggested for gardens

Native here, not suggested for gardens

  • Pondberry Lindera melissifolia Federally endangered

Matched by plant genus. Avian Diet Database

Also on these plants

Find natives for your garden

All fruit and seed records in Arkansas

All wildlife of Arkansas

Also found in its main habitats

Its main habitats in Arkansas, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.

Northern Cardinal uses many habitats in Arkansas; these are its 3 most characteristic.

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Birds 77

Plants 313

All of floodplain and bottomland forests in Arkansas

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Birds 86

Plants 888

All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in Arkansas

Swamps

Birds 63

Plants 223

All of swamps in Arkansas

USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models.

Sources