Want Cardinals in Your Yard? Try This One Simple Trick
Brightly colored birds add some much-needed spice to our lives. Once you know how to attract them, you can sit back and watch them fly to your window. Northern Cardinal birds certainly rank as one of the most spectacular of birds. All About Birds describes them: "The male Northern Cardinal is perhaps responsible for getting more people to open up a field guide than any other bird. They're a perfect combination of familiarity, conspicuousness, and style: a shade of red you can't take your eyes off."
These guys live in much of the Eastern United States, available for birders to peek out their windows and spy their gorgeous red plumage. But how do you encourage them to frequent your yard? Dan DeBaun has some top tips for us. The best thing to attract Cardinals is to go to your local store and grab some sunflower seed bird mix (Note: You don't want to feed them sunflower seeds made for humans, as those may be salted). It's their favorite meal and will keep them coming back to your humble abode again and again.
@debaundan Four tips to draw cardinals to your yard #birds#birdfeeding#viral#cardinal#cardinals#birdwatching
original sound - Dan DeBaun
3 Other Ways To Attract Cardinals
While putting out the sunflower seed mix will certainly get the attention of the local Cardinals, you can further attract them by taking a few extra steps.
- Cardinals love to eat off the ground. It might not be appetizing to us, but it works great for these birdies. Buying a ground feeder and putting the Cardinal food in that will basically be like setting up an all-you-can-eat buffet. Of course, you will also invite squirrels or chipmunks this way. If you want to avoid those, try step 2.
- Purchase a very sturdy hopper feeder (this is the bird feeder you picture in your mind when you think of a backyard feeder). Cardinals are surprisingly hefty, so they want a solid eating spot, not a flimsy one. In my experience, you'll probably get squirrels here, too, though certainly not as often as from the ground variety.
- The iconic Cardinal image involves them sitting on a tree branch, taking it all in. You'll attract more birds if you put your feeder, regardless of which kind you choose, near shrubbery or trees. That way, they have somewhere to retreat to if a predator (like your dog) comes along.
Related: Want More Hummingbirds? This One Plant Keeps Them Coming Back
You will be surprised how quickly the Cardinals, and other birds, flock to your yard after you do these four things.
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This story was originally published April 27, 2026 at 7:20 PM.