Bird
Northern Cardinal
Cardinalis cardinalis
Lives in Mississippi all year and nests here. Found in all 82 counties, across 20 habitats.
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 82 counties
- Habitats
- 20

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 82 counties
- Habitats
- 20
- Habitat models
- Year-round
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Mississippi 20
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.

Open sand of beaches, dunes and the hollows between them.
Dense, evergreen groves of live oak, magnolia and other hardwoods in the southern Coastal Plain, from dry oak domes to wet hydric hammocks and south Florida's tropical hammocks; salt-shaped maritime hammocks are maritime forests.
Open, wet, seepage-fed bogs of the Coastal Plain and Sandhills, often with pitcher plants.
Coastal tidal marshes (salinity not stated)
Tidal marshes of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts where the source does not say whether the water is fresh, brackish or salt. A stated salinity files the marsh under freshwater tidal marshes or salt and brackish marshes instead.
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.
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Borders of forests, clearings and shrubby thickets.
Open, herb-covered wetlands with fresh, non-tidal water.
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.
Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
Forests on moist but not wet ground, such as rich slopes and ravines.
Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Open, grass-dominated places kept open by fire, grazing or thin soil, from tallgrass prairie to Piedmont prairies.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.
Coastal marshes flooded by salty or brackish tides.
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.
Other habitats in its models (159)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Mississippi. Those recorded in Mississippi first, the rest by region.
Elsewhere in the South (90)
- 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-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.
- Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Year-round.
- Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Year-round.
- Mississippi Delta Maritime Forest Year-round.
- Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Year-round.
- Northern Crowley's Ridge Sand Forest Year-round.
- Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Bluestem Woodland Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- Red River Large Floodplain Forest 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 Large Floodplain Year-round.
- South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest Year-round.
- South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian 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 Hydric Hammock 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 Large River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Seepage Swamp and Baygall Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest 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 (62)
- 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.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems Year-round.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems Year-round.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Shrub-Herbaceous Wetland Systems Year-round.
- Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems Year-round.
- Developed, Low Intensity Year-round.
- Developed, Medium Intensity 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 Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood 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.
- 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.
- South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier 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 Clethra Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Pine 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 (Lake/River/Pond) Year-round.
Seasons in Mississippi
- Year-round: nests here, in all 82 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.
14 native plants in Mississippi. 2 not suggested for gardens
- Flowering DogwoodCornus florida
- Black RaspberryRubus occidentalis
- Southern DewberryRubus trivialis
- Garden Dew BerryRubus aboriginum
- Northern DewberryRubus flagellaris
- Pennsylvania BlackberryRubus pensilvanicus
- Sand BlackberryRubus cuneifolius
- TuliptreeLiriodendron tulipifera
- Common HackberryCeltis occidentalis
- Dwarf HackberryCeltis tenuifolia
- Northern SpicebushLindera benzoin
- SugarberryCeltis laevigata
Native here, not suggested for gardens
- Bog Spicebush Lindera subcoriacea Rare or protected plant
- Pondberry Lindera melissifolia Federally endangered
Matched by plant genus. Avian Diet Database
Also on these plants
- American Robin 10 of these plants
- Cedar Waxwing 6 of these plants
- Eastern Bluebird 4 of these plants
- Hackberry Emperor 3 of these plants
- Io Moth 3 of these plants
- Mourning Cloak 3 of these plants
- Question Mark 3 of these plants
- Promethea Moth 2 of these plants
- Wood Thrush 2 of these plants
- Eastern Tiger Swallowtail 1 of these plants
- Spicebush Swallowtail 1 of these plants
- Spring Azure 1 of these plants
None of the other listed species.
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Mississippi, 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 Mississippi; these are its 3 most characteristic.
Swamps
Birds 110
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicus
- Kentucky WarblerOporornis formosus
- Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
- Rose-breasted GrosbeakPheucticus ludovicianus
- Seaside SparrowAmmodramus maritimus
- Swainson's WarblerLimnothlypis swainsonii
- Wilson's PloverCharadrius wilsonia
- Eurasian WigeonAnas penelope
- Lapland LongspurCalcarius lapponicus
- Ruddy TurnstoneArenaria interpres
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
Plants 291
- Black Highbush BlueberryVaccinium fuscatum
- Dahoon HollyIlex cassine
- Carolina AshFraxinus caroliniana
- Dense-flower SmartweedPersicaria densiflora
- Water HickoryCarya aquatica
- Swamp TupeloNyssa biflora
- Bent SedgeCarex styloflexa
- Cypress-swamp SedgeCarex joorii
- Dark-green SedgeCarex venusta
- Fringed SedgeCarex crinita
- Ravenfoot SedgeCarex crus-corvi
- Southern Long SedgeCarex lonchocarpa
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 99
- VeeryCatharus fuscescens
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicus
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Kentucky WarblerOporornis formosus
- Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
- Swainson's WarblerLimnothlypis swainsonii
- Broad-winged HawkButeo platypterus
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Worm-eating WarblerHelmitheros vermivorum
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
Plants 346
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- White Panicled Aster; Eastern Lined AsterSymphyotrichum lanceolatum var. latifolium
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Appalachian Orange ConeflowerRudbeckia fulgida var. umbrosa
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Southern Shagbark HickoryCarya carolinae-septentrionalis
- Spruce Pine; Walters Pine; Cedar PinePinus glabra
- Blunt Broom SedgeCarex tribuloides
- Louisiana SedgeCarex louisianica
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
- Common Cup-plantSilphium perfoliatum
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground
Birds 130
- Cape May WarblerDendroica tigrina
- Grasshopper SparrowAmmodramus savannarum
- House SparrowPasser domesticus
- Long-eared OwlAsio otus
- Monk ParakeetMyiopsitta monachus
- Smith's LongspurCalcarius pictus
- Upland SandpiperBartramia longicauda
- Rock PigeonColumba livia
- Bronzed CowbirdMolothrus aeneus
- DickcisselSpiza americana
- Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra
- Bell's VireoVireo bellii
Plants 1094
- Muck SunflowerHelianthus simulans
- Annual FleabaneErigeron annuus
- Canada LettuceLactuca canadensis
- Common Evening-primroseOenothera biennis
- Cutleaf Evening-primroseOenothera laciniata
- Dog-fennelEupatorium capillifolium
- Threadleaf SundropsOenothera linifolia
- Carolina Crane's-billGeranium carolinianum
- Carolina HorsenettleSolanum carolinense var. carolinense
- Blackeyed SusanRudbeckia hirta var. pulcherrima
- Downy Ground-cherryPhysalis pubescens
- Gray Ground-cherryPhysalis grisea
All of roadsides, fields and disturbed ground in Mississippi
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP year-round habitat model for Northern Cardinal Avoids forest interior
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Avian Diet Database





































































