Illinois’ State Bird: 5 Things You Might Not Know About Cardinals

Here we are in the middle of winter 2026, and Illinois' songbird population is, for the most part, gone for the winter or whittled down to just the toughest and most adaptable ones left .

However, the most prominent songbird in our state is the one species pictured above, and it's still hanging around toughing out a seriously cold winter season. The Northern Cardinal is our state bird, and the most prevalent of all of Illinois songbirds. Here's our overall top 5 Illinois songbirds:

1. Northern Cardinal
2. American Goldfinch
3. American Robin
4. Black-capped Chickadee
5. House Sparrow

The Northern Cardinal Is Illinois' Official State Bird, But It Wasn't A Shoo-In For The Title

There was some stiff competition back in 1929 that the cardinal had to overcome in order to become our official state bird. The cardinal had to beat out:

• Bluebird
• Meadowlark
• Bobwhite (a type of quail)
• Oriole

The Northern Cardinal did finally claim victory, and has held onto the title for almost 100 years. As a matter of fact, the Northern Cardinal is the official state bird in more states than any other, since all of these states made it their official state bird, too:

• Indiana
• Kentucky
• North Carolina
• Ohio
• Virginia
• West Virginia

The Western Meadowlark is in second place, with six states choosing it as their official bird.

There Is More Than Just One Species Of Cardinal

Here in Illinois, our state bird is the Northern Cardinal, but there are others in the cardinal family that are scattered around the Americas.

You've got the Desert Cardinal, also known as the pyrrhuloxia that are found in Mexico and the American Southwest:

Then comes the Vermillion Cardinal, which can be found in Venezuela and Colombia:

And we also have the Red-Crested Cardinal, which is typically only found in Hawaii and Puerto Rico, as well as in South America:

With A New Pope From Chicago, We're Hearing About Cardinals More Than We Usually Do, And There Is A Connection

It's not hard to see.

According to a piece at MentalFloss.com, one was named after the other:

American colonists named the birds cardinals as a nod to the red-gowned religious figures (either directly or after the word cardinal had become a term for a particular shade of red).

Speaking of the color red, the reason cardinals (the bird kind) are red is pretty much the same reason that flamingoes are pink. It's their diet. BirdsAndBlooms.com explains that male cardinals’ vivid red color "comes from carotenoid pigments, which are found in red fruits. Eating more of these scarlet-hued berries, especially during molting, helps a male form brighter red feathers."

One more fun fact about Northern Cardinals is that occasionally you'll encounter a rare yellow cardinal:

Or, an even rarer leucistic cardinal, which is almost white: