Diet and Foraging

Red-crested Cardinal has a varied diet consisting mainly of seeds, fruit, and insects as well as young shoots and berries. This tanager forages on the ground and in low trees and shrubs in pairs or small groups (Jaramillo 2011). de la Pena and Pensiero (2003) observed 22 individuals in Santa Fe, Argentina, and detailed nine different plant species where fruit and seeds were consumed in various months. These were the fruit of Celtis tala in February and November, Grabowskia duplicata in December, Holmbergia tweedii in April and May, Morus alba (white mulberry) from October to December, and Sapium haematospermum in March; and the seeds of Chloris virgata (feather finger grass) in May, Eleusine tristachya (threespike goosegrass) in May, Setaria parviflora (marsh bristlegrass) in June, and Spergula villosa (sand spurry) in September. The summer diet of populations on Oahu consists of forb seeds, grass seeds, and garbage, making the island populations opportunist feeders (Moulton and Ferris 1991).