A cardinal call is usually a loud, metallic chip, and a cardinal song is a string of clear whistles that sounds like cheer-cheer-cheer or birdie-birdie-birdie. Both sexes sing, so the singer in your yard may well be the brown-and-red female.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology says scientists have described at least 16 different Northern Cardinal calls. This guide covers the handful you will actually hear, who makes each one, and what it means.
What does a cardinal call sound like?
The one you will hear most is the chip. Cornell calls it a loud, metallic note, and says cardinals use it to warn off intruders, when predators are near, and when carrying food to the nest.
It is also the call that gives away a hidden bird. Cornell notes that cardinals are inconspicuous in dense tangles, and that you can find them by listening for the piercing chip.
A softer took note is different. Either bird may give it when one is about to feed the other.
Video: American Bird Conservancy
The cheer song and the birdie song
Cornell describes the song as a loud string of clear, down-slurred or two-parted whistles that often speeds up and ends in a slow trill. Songs typically last 2 to 3 seconds.
The syllables can sound like cheer, cheer, cheer or birdie, birdie, birdie. Birds of the World adds that songs run 2 to 5 seconds, with the occasional one lasting 15 seconds or more.
Males may sing all year, with a peak in spring and early summer. If you want to learn the rest of the yard chorus, our guide to identifying birds by song shows how to sort what you hear.
Cardinal sounds compared
| Sound | Who gives it | When | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loud metallic chip | Both sexes | Warning off intruders, predator nearby, females approaching the nest, carrying food to the nest, coaxing nestlings out | Cornell All About Birds, Sounds |
| Soft took note | Either mate | When one bird is about to feed the other | Cornell All About Birds, Sounds |
| Cheer, cheer, cheer song | Both sexes | Males mainly in spring and early summer, but may sing all year | Cornell All About Birds, Sounds |
| Birdie, birdie, birdie song | Both sexes | Same season pattern; songs last 2 to 3 seconds | Cornell All About Birds, Sounds |
| Female song from the nest | Female | Often while sitting on the nest, longer and slightly more complex than the male’s | Cornell All About Birds, Overview |
What is the female cardinal saying?
Cornell says only a few female North American songbirds sing, and the female cardinal does, often while sitting on the nest. That may tell the male when to bring food.
A mated pair shares song phrases, and the female may sing a longer, slightly more complex song than the male. Birds of the World also lists the chip and the took as calls a female gives at the nest.
So a quiet, brown cardinal singing from dense cover in spring is probably a nesting female, not a male out of sight.
Using calls to bring cardinals closer
Hearing a chip near your feeder usually means a territorial or nervous bird, not a hungry one. Cornell says nearly any feeder will draw cardinals, with a particular fondness for sunflower seeds.
Our guide on how to attract cardinals to your yard covers placement and cover, and the breakdown of cardinal bird seed covers what to put in the tray.
