Manu Minute: Manu ʻula ʻula, the red bird

By Patrick Hart,

Ann Tanimoto-Johnson, Savannah Harriman-Pote

Published January 14, 2022 at 11:01 AM HST

Ways To Subscribe

1 of 2 — Image 1: A male Northern cardinal

Northern cardinals are approximately 9 inches long; males are a vivid red color, and have a red crest with black masks and chins, with sizeable red bills for eating seeds.

Ann Tanimoto-Johnson / HPR

2 of 2 — Image 2: A juvenile Northern cardinal

Female Northern cardinals are duller in coloration with slightly reddish-brown plumage and smaller crests. Juveniles can sometimes be mistaken for females, as they have more drab coloration. However, their bills are usually black in color and they don't have masks around their eyes.

Ann Tanimoto-Johnson / HPR

The Northern cardinal is the ruby in the crown of any backyard birder.

The cardinal has a dedicated following in the eastern U.S., where it is the official bird of seven states (narrowly beating out the Northern mockingbird). It's also a popular mascot for many schools and sports teams.

Here in the islands, the cardinal is often called manu ʻula ʻula.

It was introduced in 1929. Though the initial introduction was just one pair of mated birds in Honolulu, the local population really got going when a few birding societies purposefully released over 300 cardinals across Kauaʻi, Oʻahu, and Hawaiʻi. Such practices were commonplace at the time.

Although easy to spot due to their dazzling red plumage, their songs are distinctive too. Take a listen!

AMTJ_Northern cardinal spectrogram video.mp4

Audio credit: Peter Boesman/Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (ML296875)