Description: 8-9" male bright red with crest, black face stout red bill, female buff-brown, tinged with red on crest, wings and tail 

Habitat: Woodland edges, fields, thickets, brushy undergrowth, suburbs, gardens, feeders with sunflower seeds, swamps, 
desert washes, riparian areas.
Very common in the east.
 

Nesting: 3-4 pale green eggs spotted with red-brown in a deep cup of twigs, leaves and plant fibers concealed in a thicket

Range: resident of eastern US
south to Gulf Coast

Diet: insects, fruit, and seeds

Voice: rich what-cheer, cheer-cheer; purty-purty-purty-purty or
sweet-sweet-sweet-sweet also a metallic chip

Notes: species named after red robes worn by Roman Catholic Cardinals, occupy territory year-round, forms winter flocks of 60-70