February 2025

The Botanical Garden of the Ozarks is pleased to partner with Wild Birds Unlimited to support songbird populations at the Garden! Together, we have refurbished the feeder station and will be offering new opportunities for ornithology education in 2025. As part of this initiative, Wild Birds Unlimited will contribute a “Bird of the Month” feature to our newsletters, along with helpful tips and ideas for caring for your own backyard birds.

For many, the Northern Cardinal symbolizes visits from long-lost loved ones, a sign of comfort and peace. Here in NW Arkansas, we are lucky enough to have these birds all year, raising their families in the same communities we raise our own. Cardinals are the first birds to visit us in the morning, and the last to stop by for a bedtime snack. They greet us with their song, a chipper “cheer, cheer, purty-purty-purty-purty”. They’re one of our larger feeder birds, at about 8-9” in length and have a tall “mohawk” crest that they can raise and lower to communicate with others. You can tell young cardinals from adults by the color of their beaks: young birds have dark beaks, while adults have orange ones. Cardinals can live up to about 15 years in the wild!

Would you like to see more cardinals in your yard? Start by making sure you have their favorite foods: safflower, sunflower, peanuts, mealworms, and suet. For an easy no-hassle way to feed all these at once, check out Wild Birds Unlimited’s new Cardinal Confetti seed blend! Feeders should have wide perches or trays so that they feel comfortable visiting. They especially enjoy feeders close to the ground, a source of water, and bushes or trees to rest and build their nests. (quick note: cardinals do not use man-made nesting structures and prefer instead to nest in dense shrubby growth). During nesting season, male cardinals may sing 200 times per hour, and female cardinals will sometimes join them in a romantic duet!

Do you love cardinals as much as we do? You can help keep BGO feeders stocked by donating to the “Feed a Bird” fund! To find out more about cardinals and other Arkansas birds, or to pick out your new favorite feeder, visit us at Wild Birds Unlimited at one of our two locations: 745 E Joyce Blvd in Fayetteville and 2011 Promenade Blvd in Rogers. Enjoy the birds!