The term "northern" in the common name refers to its range, as it is the northernmost cardinal species known. The cardinal is named after cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, who wear distinctive red robes and caps. In 1983, the scientific name was changed again to Cardinalis cardinalis and the common name was changed to "northern cardinal", to avoid confusion with the several other species also termed cardinals. In 1918, the scientific name was sometimes replaced with Richmondena cardinalis. In 1838, it was recategorized as Cardinalis virginianus. It was originally categorized as Loxia cardinalis, a genus which now contains only crossbills. The northern cardinal was described by Carl Linnaeus in the 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It was once prized as a pet, but its sale was banned in the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. A clutch of three to four eggs is laid, and two to four clutches are produced each year. During courtship, the male feeds seed to the female beak-to-beak. The male behaves territorially, marking out his territory with song. The northern cardinal is mainly granivorous, but also feeds on insects and fruit. The species expresses sexual dimorphism: Females are a reddish olive color, and have a gray mask around the beak, while males are a vibrant red color, and have a black mask on the face, as well as a larger crest. The northern cardinal is a mid-sized perching songbird with a body length of 21–23 cm (8.3–9.1 in) and a crest on the top of the head. Its habitat includes woodlands, gardens, shrublands, and wetlands. It is also an introduced species in a few locations such as Bermuda and Hawaii. It can be found in southeastern Canada, through the eastern United States from Maine to Minnesota to Texas, New Mexico, southern Arizona, southern California, and south through Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala. The northern cardinal ( Cardinalis cardinalis), known colloquially as the redbird, common cardinal, red cardinal, or just cardinal, is a bird in the genus Cardinalis.
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