Best way to attract Cardinals
Cardinals come to depend on bird feeders of which a feeder will be the most reliable way to attract this beautiful red backyard bird.
What is the best way to attract Northern Cardinals to your yard, is with a fully stocked bird feeder - of the wide open platform feeder kind - that will include sunflower seeds, nuts, dried/live mealworms or fruits. Encourage Cardinals to forage on your lawn if you can, but ultimately the feeders are the focus.
Cardinals being a common backyard bird as they are, it can still be difficult to notice Cardinals in your yard or at feeders when they are one of America's favorite birds, with an upward population of 120 million.
America's East benefits with a Cardinals range while its important to remember those on the west will see no Cardinals at all.
Similarly, a Cardinals range will begin to fade off in the Midwest and then further to the west, and so there's no way to attract Cardinals if they aren't in your State.
With all that in mind, its important for now to only attract Cardinals with use of a feeder.
Best way to attract all wild birds is with a bird feeder and if Cardinals get a sense of bird feed present with birds swarming a new or current bird feeder currently unbeknownst to them... soon Cardinals will find their way to your feeders.
Its important to provide mix bird seeds in a suspended bird feeder with an open tray that is compatible with this large backyard bird - with an open top platform bird feeder a better option of them all.
Cardinals absolutely love sunflower seeds the most, although all seed mixes will do, with peanuts also eaten. Provide live or dried mealworms if you can with suet in any form, along with fruits as Cardinals are a fruit-eating bird by nature.
Bird feed should be provided to Cardinals in an accessible bird feeder, although there's an option to place bird feed on visible surfaces with some feed thrown over the lawn.
Open ground with lawn
With a Cardinals natural foraging behavior mostly taking place down on your lawn or any turf patch, its vitally important to at least attempt Cardinals to feed on an open, sunlit lawn where ants, bugs or spiders can be foraged for.
Cardinals will slowly walk around on lawns or more dirt areas of the yard as they seem to hop from one spot to the other - all while tilting their heads as they search for bugs - that are sure to be present in all naturally grown grass yards.
Best way to attract Cardinals to your yard, or any bit of green space available, is possible only if this potential foraging area is accessible and safe.
Its vital to keep leaves and some debris on the ground as its encourages creepy-crawlies to gather. Of which Cardinals will flip over leaves or objects in search of what bugs have stuck themselves to the underside of these natural debris.
Avoid blowing away or cleaning up leaves then while a few small rocks should be left in bold, turf areas where Cardinals also forage.
Open ground with cut grass to allow easy foraging is better, while a clear space under suspended bird feeders will allow Cardinals to pick up spilled seeds - or other common bird feeder food.
Encourage Cardinals to forage
Certainly there isn't a lot you can do to train or force Northern Cardinals into a behavior that benefits you, but you could at least attract Cardinals on to your lawn - like you attract birds to feeders - by providing bird food on the ground.
Cardinals love themselves seed mixes with sunflower seeds a personal favorite, thus some of these seeds can be thrown over the lawn.
Its help to get an idea where Cardinals spend most of their time on your lawn prior to this, as you can expect a lot of waste if you just expect Cardinals to show up out of nowhere - if indeed Cardinals aren't actually found in that part of your yard.
With Cardinals probably and only witnessed to forage on a limited area on your sunlit up lawn, this is where you can throw bird seed over the lawn.
Do so but keep an eye on proceedings to be sure Cardinals do in fact eat the seeds.
Continue to throw bird seed on the lawn to keep Cardinals coming back, but don't forget to provide a helping of live or dried mealworms which Cardinals absolutely adore.
Cardinals also eat peanuts when available along with all kinds of suet, of which I think these kinds of bird feed will be best kept off the ground.
Elevate seed mix on platform
With backyard birders continuing to feed wild birds as they do in mostly reliable feeders, it is thought a Cardinals favorite seed mix such as sunflower seeds has been responsible for Cardinals spreading Northwestwards.
Best way and possibly the only way to genuinely attract Northern Cardinals to our yards, for most of us in the east - where Cardinals are present - is with the use of a seed-filled bird feeder.
Bear in mind Cardinals love themselves sunflower seeds the best thus any seed mix provided should really include sunflower seeds.
To provide wild birds, and therefore also Cardinals, will see a lot of success at feeders.
Northern Cardinals as you may know do come to bird feeders but they must remain accessible. Cardinals aren't that capable at feeders due to their size, thus an open top platform feeder is what they like most and therefore should only be utilized.
Suspended seed feeders with a wide open tray for Cardinals to perch are fine, but remember Cardinals will go without if making seed feeders impossible to access.
On top of what can be a platform bird feeder on a stand to stabilize, a ground platform feeder or indeed a suspended platform feeder - do provide sunflower seeds at best, with an option to include dried mealworms or peanuts.
Platform feeders can also be a safe space to provide suet for Cardinals which should be broken up to benefit all suet eating birds, or serve suet whole like you do with suet cakes.
Summarize
With how abundant Northern Cardinals are in the United States, it shouldn't be too difficult to attract Cardinals in to your yard, to feed off the ground or eat off accessible bird feeders when their favorite bird feed is made available.
To attract Cardinals in to your yard of course Cardinals must be seen to be in the area, or this will all be for nothing.
With Northern Cardinals range beginning to spread thin as you move westwards, this is when it get a little more difficult to attract Cardinals.
Despite that, the best way to attract Cardinals to your yard, or specifically to bird feeders, is with no doubt their favorite bird feed.
In keeping with Cardinals foraging behavior, it helps to have a naturally grown lawn - as oppose to laid turf that is without natural food - so you can hopefully encourage Cardinals to forage on your grass, in a sunlit area.
Putting down bird seeds like sunflower seeds or dried/live mealworms on the lawn will also be a good idea.
In addition to attracting Northern Cardinals to feed naturally, its quite possible Cardinals can only be attracted to our yards via fully stocked up bird feeders.
For the record, at bird feeders Cardinals like to eat seeds to peanuts, dried or live mealworms, all kinds of suet, and a mix of fresh fruits you can provide them - all of which would preferably be placed on top of a wide open stabilized platform bird feeder.
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