Bird

Northern Cardinal

Cardinalis cardinalis

Lives in Virginia all year and nests here. Found in all 133 counties and cities, across 27 habitats.

Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 133 counties and cities
Habitats: 27

Male Northern Cardinal, whole bird — **Male**. (c) Daughter Dad, some rights reserved (CC BY). CC BY. iNaturalist photo 517002723. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Here: All year
Nesting: Nests here
Range: All 133 counties and cities
Habitats: 27
Habitat models: Year-round

Where it lives

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

Habitats in Virginia 27

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

1 of 27

Year-roundUnconsolidated Shore (Beach/Dune)Dune grassland. Shown: Core Banks, Cape Lookout, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Core Banks dunes, June 2013, Jarek Tuszyński, June 2013. CC BY-SA 3.0. Source record.

Year-roundDisturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other); Harvested Forest - Shrub RegenerationNamed place / source context. Shown: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Georgia and Tennessee; which part is not recorded, a neighboring state.Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields, Richard Schlecht, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundRidge and Valley Calcareous Valley Bottom Glade and WoodlandLimestone cedar glade. Shown: Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County, Kentucky, a neighboring state.Cedar glade in the Pennyroyal Plain, Simpson County, Mason Brock (Masebrock), undated. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundAppalachian Hemlock-Hardwood ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Hemlock forest / rocky mountain stream, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundSouthern Piedmont Mesic Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest; South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Mountains of North and South Carolina; exact site not identified, a neighboring state.Shortia beneath rhododendrons in mountain woodland, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundSouthern Appalachian Grass and Shrub Bald - Shrub ModifierGrassy mountain bald with shrub islands. Shown: Andrews Bald, Forney Ridge Trail, Swain County, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Andrews Bald, Forney Ridge Trail, July 2020, Andrea Walton / Great Smoky Mountains National Park, July 2020. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundNorthern hardwood forest in winter. Shown: Baxter Creek Trail near Mount Sterling, Haywood County, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Frozen northern hardwood forest, Baxter Creek Trail, Brian Stansberry, undated. CC BY 3.0. Source record.

Year-roundCentral Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and FlatwoodsWet pine flatwoods with a shrub layer. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Wet Pine Flatwoods, Shaken Creek Preserve - typical shrub layer, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

Year-roundCentral Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and FlatwoodsSandy pine savanna. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Sandy Pine Savanna, Rush Featherling subtype, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Peatland Pocosin; Atlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and BaygallDense low pocosin. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Dense low pocosin, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Large Natural LakeshoreRegional / representative. Shown: Southern coastal pond margins, Florida and Louisiana to North Carolina; state not identified, a neighboring state.Yellow butterwort beside a moss-hung coastal pond, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundSouthern and Central Appalachian Cove ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Cove hardwood forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Embayed Region Tidal Salt and Brackish Marsh; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Salt MarshBrackish marsh at a woodland edge. Shown: Fort Fisher, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Fort Fisher brackish marsh and woodland edge, ncwetlands.org, undated. CC0 1.0. Source record.

Year-roundRegional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Spruce-fir forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianNamed place / source context. Shown: Watauga Falls, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Watauga Falls, Illustrator/engraver not confidently attributed; reproduced in Zeigler and Grosscup, The Heart of the Alleghanies (1883), 1883. Public domain. Source record.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Streamhead Seepage Swamp - Pocosin - and Baygall; Central Interior and Appalachian Swamp Systems; Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain Swamp Systems; Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Tidal Wooded Swamp; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Tidal Wooded Swamp; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Basin Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa Modifier; Southern Piedmont/Ridge and Valley Upland Depression SwampNamed place / source context. Shown: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretation, a neighboring state.View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

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.

Year-round

Depression ponds and limesinks

Shallow ponds in Coastal Plain depressions, such as limesinks and the ponds in some Carolina bays, that rise and fall with the seasons.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Depression Pondshore

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-roundSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest - Xeric; Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Hardwood; Central and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Hardwood Modifier; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest; Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest; Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest; Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest; Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland; Southern Appalachian Montane Pine Forest and Woodland; Southern Appalachian Low Mountain Pine Forest

Floodplain and bottomland forests

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

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain

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-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier

Maritime forests and thickets

Salt-pruned forests and shrub thickets behind coastal dunes.

Year-roundAtlantic Coastal Plain Central Maritime Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Maritime Forest

Moderately dry forests

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

Year-roundSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

Mountain bogs and fens

Wet, open, peaty mountain wetlands fed by seepage, often with sphagnum moss.

Year-round

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

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

Other habitats in its models (138)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia.

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