Where Do Cardinals Nest At Night? [Is Safety First?]

Cardinals, like many other songbirds, will spend most of the night sleeping. However, they will awake in the very early hours of the morning to forage for food. Have you ever wondered where cardinals nest at night?

Cardinals will find protected areas to roost for the night. This generally includes tall trees, dense shrubs or tree cavities. A good, dense covering of foliage is essential as this keeps them safe from predators during the night.

So, how do cardinals find the perfect spot to roost for the night?

They Look For Safety First

For a cardinal to feel secure enough to sleep, it always considers safety first. This means that the bird will choose a spot that has dense coverage to hide in. And, this is usually high up so that the bird is protected from predators such as snakes and cats.

Hiding in dense foliage also means that the cardinals are safe from nocturnal birds of prey such as owls. Therefore, they usually find a good roosting spot deep within the foliage of tall trees and dense bushes.

These are also the type of spots that cardinals prefer when they’re looking for a spot to build their nests. These types of spots provide plenty of protection for the young chicks who are prone to predation from larger birds and raptors.

They Prefer Peace And Quiet

Like us humans, cardinals don’t want to be disturbed while they’re sleeping. Therefore, they’ll look for a spot that is nice and quiet and away from noises that could disturb their sleep.

Being high up the trees, usually means that they’re unlikely to be disturbed while they get a good night’s sleep. They also find that they won’t have their naps interrupted by artificial lighting such as street lights or excessive backyard lighting.

They Like To Have A Good Vantage Point

Cardinals also like to have a good vantage point where they can easily see their surroundings. That’s why being high up in tall trees is the ideal spot for them to rest at night. Even if they’re roosting deep within the foliage, being high up means that they will still get a good view of their surroundings.

They Search For Spots That Provide Protection From Rain And Snow

Another thing that a cardinal needs to consider when choosing the ideal resting spot is the weather. There’s nothing comfortable about sleeping in the rain and snow. Therefore, they choose to rest deep within the covering of dense trees or shrubs as this provides them good protection from the elements.

Large tree cavities are also ideal for this as they provide adequate protection from the elements. In suburban areas, cardinals will even choose to shelter from the weather under the roof of outside structures such as verandas. Interestingly though, these sheltered spots may only be a temporary choice for most cardinals as they’re convenient and easy to find.

Once the danger of bad weather is over, cardinals will once again return to the resting places that are more preferable and give them a better vantage point.

Which brings us to the question of whether cardinals will sleep in birdhouses.

Will Cardinals Sleep In Backyard Birdhouses?

The answer to this is both no and yes. Cardinals do not like the enclosed spaces of a birdhouse as it offers them only one escape route if they feel threatened. Therefore, they will not nest in birdhouses or nesting boxes.

However, if you have a birdhouse that is open on various sides and has a nice flat base, then you might find that cardinals will choose to sleep in it. This is because open birdhouses allow a variety of escape routes for the birds.

Cardinals Need An Easy Escape Route During The Night

You might have guessed, but another important element that a cardinal will consider when it chooses its resting place is how easy it is to quickly fly away if it needs to. You see, cardinals are quite small and can have a variety of predators including raptors such as owls.

Therefore, if a cardinal senses danger nearby, it needs to escape quite quickly to ensure its safety. This is precisely why cardinals will not sleep in enclosed birdhouses or nesting boxes. They’re quite clever, aren’t they?

Do Cardinals Sleep Alone Or In Groups?

In general, cardinals are fairly solitary birds except during mating season. During the breeding season, you’ll often find a breeding pair sleeping together. In addition, a mother bird will sleep with her babies because she has to keep them warm.

However, you’ll find that once the breeding season is over, even mated pairs will go their separate ways and each cardinal will find a solitary spot to rest at night.

Will Cardinals Return To The Same Spot Every Night?

In order to keep themselves completely safe, cardinals will have a number of preferred spots to sleep in the area that they live. They will then alternate sleeping in these spots from night to night.

This provides them extra security from possible predators and helps to keep them safe at night.

When Do Cardinals Go To Bed?

Most cardinals will find a suitable resting place in the evening after the sun has gone down. Before this, they’ll fill their bellies with enough food to sustain them during the night when they’re resting.

This is because they have to maintain a certain body temperature, especially on nights when it’s quite cold. For this reason, you might find that a cardinal will fluff up its feathers while it’s sleeping to help it to maintain its body temperature.

How Can You Make Your Yard More Inviting To Cardinals?

If you want to encourage cardinals into your yard and want to provide them with ideal nesting and sleeping locations, there are a number of things that you can do.

• Plant a few tall trees and a number of dense shrubs. Tree species preferred by cardinals include red cedars, elms, dogwoods, pines, sugar maples and spruces. Dense shrubs include honeysuckle, blackberries and elderberries.
• Ensure that you provide the cardinals with a suitable food source in your backyard feeders. Cardinals prefer sunflower and safflower seeds, millet, suet and Nyjer. If you have dedicated feeders filled with these types of seeds, you’ll find that cardinals will visit your yard and possibly choose to stay.
• Install an open birdhouse or nesting platform and hang this close to dense shrubbery. Remember that cardinals do not like enclosed spaces, so if you provide them with a nice open birdhouse, they may just choose to rest and nest there.
• Keep the outdoor lighting to a minimum. Too much bright light at night will disrupt the bird’s regular routine and they won’t be able to get adequate rest. Birds have a natural cycle that follows the daylight and nighttime. Therefore, they need darkness during the night so that they can get the sleep that they need.
• Of course, it goes without saying that having a nice birdbath near your feeders will provide the cardinals with the perfect environment where they’ll want to settle in and raise their young.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Are cardinals out at night?

Like a lot of other songbirds, at night, cardinals are sleeping and come out very early in the morning.

Where do cardinals like to make their nest?

Mostly, cardinals make their nests in trees, bushes and shrubs where they are protected from predators.

Do cardinals use birdhouses?

No, cardinals will not nest or even rest in enclosed birdhouses or nesting boxes.

Do cardinals return to the same nest?

Cardinals will never use the same nest twice. However, they often will nest in the same area year after year.

Do cardinals chirp at night?

Unlike other songbirds, cardinals do not need a lot of sleep so you might hear them chirping away in the early hours of the morning. If you hear cardinals chirping at night, it’s usually a warning to other birds that there’s a likely predator nearby.

Final Thoughts

If you’ve ever wondered where cardinals nest at night, you now have all the answers. Most important of all, cardinals need to feel completely safe before they’re able to close their eyes and go to sleep.

Therefore, they’ll look for a spot that is fairly high up from the ground and one that provides plenty of foliage cover for them to hide. Ideally, the resting spot should provide adequate cover but still give the birds a good vantage point and a number of escape routes.

However, if the weather suddenly turn bad, cardinals will often find suitable shelter wherever they can. This could even be under the roof of your veranda or under the eaves of your garage. Then, once the weather is better, they’ll go back to their more preferred resting spots.

You can help to entice cardinals to your yard by providing them not only with a suitable food source but also lots of dense foliage where they can happily spend the night in complete safety.