Illinois was the first of seven states to choose the Cardinal as it's state bird. The cardinal was made the official bird of Illinois in 1929 after receiving 39,226 votes. Schoolchildren selected this bird over the bluebird, meadowlark, quail and oriole. The cardinal is also the state bird for Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.
The male cardinal is bright red with black around the beak and eyes. The female is pale brown with a faint tinge of red. Both the male and female can be identified by their distinctive crests. The average height of an adult is about 8 inches. Although they like to live near forest edges, thickets, parks, gardens and suburban areas, cardinals have adapted well to living close to humans and are a familiar sight even in the cities.
Cardinals make their loose, cup-like nests in bushes and thickets. Their nests are usually no higher than 3 to 4 feet from the ground. The female lays 3 to 4 pale, bluish-white eggs with fine, reddish brown speckles. Although cardinals seem to like sunflower seeds best, they also eat insects, grains, wild fruit and weed seeds.
