Here is a list of ten things that you may not have known about the northern cardinal:

• In Georgia, the cardinal’s nesting season runs from early March through early July. During this time, a female may raise three broods.
• Unlike many songbirds, both male and female cardinals are accomplished songsters.
• Although we may think of the cardinal as being a bird of the South, during the past century this colorful songster has expanded its range over much of the eastern United States and Canada.
• Cardinals typically live in territories ranging anywhere from three to ten acres in size.
• The fastest speed ever recorded for the northern cardinal is 28 mph.
• Cardinals can live at least thirteen years in the wild.
• The oldest known captive cardinal lived to be twenty-eight and half years old when it died.
• The northern cardinal is the official state bird of seven states (Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia).
• Early colonists once trapped and shipped thousands of northern cardinals back to Europe where they were subsequently sold as Virginia nightingales.
• At one time Cardinals were slaughtered for their feathers, which were used to adorn women’s hats.