Northern Cardinals in Texas

Northern Cardinals live in Texas all year. Hard freezes are brief outside the Panhandle, so most feeder birds face heat and drought stress more than cold. That makes the cold months the time your yard matters most to them: their winter diet shifts toward weed and grass seeds; sumac, hackberry and other persistent winter fruit; sunflower and safflower at feeders.

Humid subtropical in the east and along the Gulf, semi-arid to arid in the west; long, hot summers and short, mild winters over most of the state.

Across Texas, cardinals typically nest from March–September. Nest site: open cup built by the female in dense shrubs, vine tangles or saplings, usually 1–15 ft up. Females lay 2–5 eggs, incubate for 11–13 days, and young leave the nest after 7–13 days.

Afternoon highs regularly exceed 95°F — nest boxes need shade or light-colored, ventilated construction, and water matters as much as food.

• Northern Cardinals don't use nest boxes. Keep dense native shrubs and trees such as yaupon holly, american beautyberry, turk's cap for nest sites.
• Delay heavy pruning of shrubs until after September.

Of the regional native plants we track for Texas, these 8 provide food or cover cardinals use:

Cardinals feed most actively at dawn and dusk and rarely use small-perch tube feeders. Place feeders within 10–15 ft of dense shrub cover they can retreat to.

• Best foods: Black-oil sunflower, Safflower, Hulled sunflower chips, Cracked corn (sparingly).
• In Texas's winter: Hard freezes are brief outside the Panhandle, so most feeder birds face heat and drought stress more than cold.

Full diet breakdown for cardinals · Best feeder for cardinals