We have several Northern Cardinals living near our yard. They are very easy to see with the bright red coloring of the male, and the similar, distinctive shape of the female. I think we have 4-5 cardinals- we've seen two larger males at the same time, plus a much smaller, less red male, and two different females.

The cardinals have a distinctive chirping sound. They make a loud "zeeeeep" sound. We hear them early in the mornings, and a quick look out the window shows one or more cardinals feeding on the seed in the feeder or on the seed that has fallen on the ground beneath the feeder.

A female cardinal and a couple of house sparrows are eating the seed on the ground under the feeder. Note the female cardinal has the same shape and head crown as the male, but has more muted colors.

This bird was near the Ma and Pa trail in Bel Air, MD in November 2009.

My Wingscapes camera took this photo in May 2010.

This one was near the picnic area of Susquehanna State Park on April 28th, 2012.

This male perched in our snowy backyard tree on March 25th, 2013.

This one has no tail. That did not seem to stop it from flying normally.

We saw this one at Susquehanna State Park on May 4th, 2014.

These Cardinals were in our backyard during the March 5th, 2015 snowstorm.

These Cardinals were at Mariner Point Park in Joppatown, MD on March 8th, 2015.

This bird was in our yard during the snowstorm on January 23rd, 2016.

This one was at Mariner Point Park on January 30th, 2016.

These were at our feeder in February, 2016.

This bird was at our feeder on March 4th, 2016.

And this female Cardinal was at our feeder on March 10th, 2016.

I saw this one at Susquehanna State Park on April 30th, 2016.