Cardinals and allies | Cardinalidae

Kardinaalachtigen | Cardenales

This family is held together partly by DNA evidence: cardinals, grosbeaks and buntings, with their heavy, conical, seed-crushing bill, were once kept apart from the Scarlet Tanager and its relatives, which have a slimmer bill suited to insects and fruit, until genetic studies showed they belong in the same family. What the family does share is a pronounced difference between the sexes: males are mostly brightly coloured, from deep red to blue, while females wear muted brown or olive tones. Unusually for songbirds, in several species within this family, including the Northern Cardinal, both sexes sing, which helps them defend a territory year-round. The nest is a loose cup of twigs and leaf stems in a shrub or low tree, usually holding three to four eggs, and the chicks are naked and helpless at hatching.