Baby Cardinal Facts

There's More To Them Than Just A Cute Face!

By Richard Worden

Hatchlings and nestlings, in general, exude an almost palpable helplessness. But there is far more to these little creatures than their scanty down feathers might suggest. There are several baby cardinal facts that could easily pique one’s interest.

Baby cardinals navigate the world, first as hatchlings, then later as nestlings. There are drastic changes in their appearance, abilities, habits, and diets. This variability makes for fascinating observation as they go from helpless creatures to taking flight and filling the air with their song.

This article will get you better acquainted with the most interesting baby cardinal facts. I will also answer the most burning questions about these avian younglings. If you want to know more about them, be sure to read through this entire article.

When Are Baby Cardinals Born?

A mating pair of cardinals typically raise two broods in a single year. The first brood is usually in March, while the second brood can come somewhere between the beginning of May and the end of July.

Every year, the month of March marks the beginning of the cardinals’ breeding season, which lasts into late September. The completion of a nest is the unofficial way to kick off the season, and the female cardinal serves as the primary architect and builder. 

Nest building takes anywhere from 3 to 9 days to complete, and cardinals are known to only use their nests once. When a clutch of 2 to 5 eggs is laid in the nest, an 11 to 13 days incubation period follows. 

At the end of the incubation period, the eggs hatch, and the baby cardinal hatchlings emerge from within the shells. 

What Does a Baby Cardinal Look Like?

Baby cardinals bear no resemblance whatsoever to adult cardinals. They are practically naked with little to no down feathers when they hatch from their eggs, and their skin has a pink and grayish coloring. This appearance will gradually change as the hatchling grows and progresses to other stages.

Here are some brief descriptions of what a baby cardinal looks like in each stage of its development:

• Cardinal hatchlings - Cardinal hatchlings more closely resemble naked mole rats than adult cardinals. They are without the gorgeous red plumage characteristic of cardinals. In fact, they barely have down feathers, if any at all. Hatchlings are also unable to see at this stage, and their eyes are noticeably closed. 
• Cardinal nestlings - Cardinal nestlings are an improvement on the appearance of the hatchlings. By this stage, the baby cardinals have taken on more down feathers, and their eyes have now opened, allowing them to take in the amazing scenery about them. 
• Cardinal fledglings - Cardinal fledglings will have grown most of their flight feathers by this stage. At this point, they appear brown with some hints of red. But they have a long way to go before they are the commanding image of red that we have come to associate with adult cardinals.
• Juvenile cardinals - Juvenile cardinals begin to have similarities to the adult versions of their species. However, their colorings range from light brown to rust-red instead of the striking red plumage. At around their one-year mark, juvenile cardinals will molt and trade their brown colorings for the distinctive red of adult cardinals. 
  
  

Watch this YouTube video to see what a really
young Cardinal looks like...Awwww!

Are Baby Cardinals Red?

Baby cardinals do not look anything like their parents and do not sport the red plumage characteristic of adult cardinals. Instead, they have pinkish-gray bare skin when they first hatch, and they gradually develop brown feathers as fledglings and juveniles.

Cardinals are primarily associated with the color red. But it will take some time before their younglings grow out this distinctive plumage. They will have to go through a couple of stages in which their feathers are a shade of light brown. 

Juvenile cardinals usually have to wait until the one-year mark before they can molt and begin taking on the red colorings, which typically begin at their tails.

How Many Babies Do Cardinals Have?

Female cardinals usually raise two broods in a single year. For each brood, they lay clutches of 2 to 5 eggs that have an incubation period of 11 to 13 days. After this time, the hatchlings emerge from the eggs and begin navigating through the stages of their development into adulthood.

The first brood is usually laid at the beginning of the breeding season in March. After the incubation period, this first batch of eggs hatches and begins going through the different developmental stages marked out for the young of their kind. 

This first brood has usually fully-fledged and left the nest by May to July. At this time, the mating pair of adult cardinals will be ready to raise the next brood.

What Do Baby Cardinals Eat?

The cardinals’ breeding season, in which they raise their broods, encompasses the period from March to September. At this time, there is an abundance of insects and invertebrates that parents feed to their baby cardinals. Seeds and berries also supplement the diets of these young.

Cardinals are omnivorous avians. That means that both plant and animal (or rather insect and invertebrate) material make up their diets. And they implement the very same for the broods they raise.

The cardinals’ breeding season coincides with the period of an abundance of insects and other invertebrates. This is vital to the baby cardinals’ growth as these options are rich sources of protein. The hatchlings and nestlings typically receive a regurgitation of these proteins for their nourishment. 

Despite the plentiful amounts of insects and invertebrates that can make up the cardinals’ meals, parents still make it a point to include seeds and fruits in the baby cardinals’ diets.

Do Baby Cardinals Stay With Their Parents?

Baby cardinals stay with their parents until they fledge and leave the nest. But even then, they remain close by and make frequent home visits as they still rely on their parents for food.

When fledglings are finally able to take flight from the nest, they get their first taste of independence and will no longer return to the nest to continue living there. Instead, they find places of their own, albeit very close to home. 

Parents continue their responsibility of providing food that they bring to the fledgling in the vicinity or which the fledgling eats at the nest during one of their visits. 

As time goes by and the fledgling becomes more confident in flight and transitions into the juvenile stage, the provisions of food from the parents will gradually lessen until the supplies stop coming altogether. 

How Long Do Baby Cardinals Stay in the Nest After Hatching?

After hatching, baby cardinals stay in the nest throughout their hatchling and nestling stages until they become fledglings and begin trying to spread their wings to take flight from the nest.

Some 11 to 13 days (also known as the incubation period) after the female cardinal lays her clutch of eggs, the eggs hatch. The chicks that emerge are known as hatchlings until they are 3 days old. For the period from 3 days to 13 days old, they become known as nestlings. And intersecting this period at 7 to 13 days is the fledgling stage when baby cardinals attempt to fly and leave the nest.

How Long Does It Take for Baby Cardinals To Fly?

Baby cardinals begin attempting flight when they are in their fledgling stage, some 7 to 13 days from hatching. Some are unsuccessful and lose their lives in the attempt, but many still are able to wing their way to independence from the nest.

The fledgling stage is the third step in a baby cardinal’s climb towards adulthood. Upon hatching, they become known as hatchlings for about 3 days, after which they are considered nestlings until they are 13 days old. 

Towards the second half of the nestling stage, the fledgling stage can intersect as baby cardinals may earlier begin to answer the instinctive urge to fly. At this point, they are all but equipped for it, as most of their flight feathers should have developed by now. 

However, a nice set of flight feathers increases the chances of a successful flight but does not necessarily guarantee it. The fledglings will need practice and experience to strengthen their wings and help them get the hang of the whole thing. 

While they haven’t yet clocked in much flight time, their soaring toward independence can look very much like moments of satisfactory flying interspersed with several instances of hitting the ground and hopping about.

Baby Cardinal Facts...Final Thoughts

While they may be easily written off as utterly helpless, with their chances of survival something akin to a snowball’s chance in hell, these younglings do survive and grow into the splendor of the adults in this species.  

Adult cardinals have come to take on various symbolisms and significance. But as we have seen from the baby cardinal facts presented in this article, the hatchlings, nestlings, and fledglings of the Cardinalidae have some of the most interesting beginnings in all the animal kingdom.

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Hi! I'm Richard Worden, the author and founder of We Know Birds.

Over 20 years ago I developed a keen interest in birds and birdwatching, and it has been my passion ever since. I am committed to spreading useful knowledge about birds to others so we might all enjoy them to the fullest.

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