Blue Cardinals: Are They Real or a Myth?

Quick Take

• Technically, no bird on Earth actually produces blue pigment, and yet dozens of vivid blue species exist. The reason why changes how you see every blue bird you've ever spotted. Why no bird makes blue pigment →
• One blue bird is so similar to a cardinal that even experienced backyard birders confuse the two, and it's probably not the species you'd guess. Meet the cardinal look-alike →
• Cardinals can actually appear in colors that have nothing to do with their famous red, a phenomenon explained by a genetic twist that most people don't know about. See non-red cardinals →
• The red in a cardinal's feathers isn't built in, and taking away one key ingredient makes the color disappear entirely. How diet creates red feathers →

Some folks could swear they’ve seen blue cardinals in their backyards or along hiking trails in certain regions of North America. It’s not so far-fetched; other blue-colored birds do exist. And out of the 11,000 species of birds in the world, it’s plausible that there might be one you’re unfamiliar with. North America is home to about 914 species of birds in the U.S. and Canada, and around 2,000 species when including Mexico and the Caribbean. The cardinal family (Cardinalidae) contains about 53 species. So, are there blue cardinals? Continue reading to discover if blue cardinals really exist or if they’re just a myth.

Are There Blue Cardinals?

Blue cardinals do not exist. Technically, blue birds do not exist because birds do not produce blue pigment. The blue color in feathers is an optical illusion created by how light scatters through the feathers’ keratin structures and air pockets. These air pockets reflect and scatter blue light while absorbing longer wavelengths associated with colors like red and yellow.

Beneath that structural layer is a pocket of melanin, which is actually dark brown or gray.

Cardinal feathers, specifically those of the Northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), are red thanks to their diet, which converts their food into red pigment. Cardinals eat seeds, fruits, and insects that contain organic chemical compounds called carotenoids. Cardinals cannot produce carotenoids from scratch, but their bodies chemically convert yellow and orange dietary carotenoids into red pigments, resulting in their vibrant red coloration.

Reasons You Might Think You’ve Seen a Blue Cardinal

There are several reasons someone might believe they have seen a blue cardinal, as some blue birds share similar features, including:

• a similar crown
• similarly shaped beaks
• same size and shape
• similar face markings

What You Likely Have Seen Instead

Ornithologists, scientists who study birds, estimate that between 40 and 60 North American birds feature blue plumage, though not all of these would be mistaken for a cardinal. Some, like Eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis), are much smaller and lack a tuft, while a great blue heron (Ardea herodias) is much too large to be mistaken for a cardinal. However, there are a handful of bird species that are similar enough to a cardinal that one could easily mistake them for a blue cardinal.

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta)

Blue jays (Cyanocitta) are perhaps the birds most commonly mistaken for cardinals. They have a slightly larger body but a similar shape. These gorgeous birds also have a large head crown. Both species also love backyard feeders, but they are not related to each other.

Blue Grosbeak

Blue grosbeaks (Passerina caerulea) are medium-sized songbirds that are sometimes mistaken for blue cardinals. Blue grosbeaks are related to cardinals, as both species belong to the bird family, Cardinalidae. They have smaller crests on their heads but do have large, seed-cracking beaks like cardinals and small black eye masks. Their wing bars sometimes appear reddish out of the corner of the eye.

Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)

The indigo bunting (Passerina cyanea) is a beautiful blue bird. Although they lack the tuft of head feathers that cardinals possess, indigo buntings have a similar body shape, though they are smaller and have shorter beaks than cardinals.

Steller’s Jay

Another likely candidate for mistaken identity is the Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri), a beautiful bird with a thick, tall tuft of feathers on its head. The Steller’s Jay lives in the Western United States, while cardinals are more likely to be spotted in the Eastern U.S.

Florida Scrub Jay

The Florida scrub jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) lacks a tuft, but otherwise bears a striking resemblance to cardinals. Their bodies are similar in shape, and both species have similar postures. However, Florida scrub jays are similar in size to cardinals but have longer, thinner beaks and a different body shape.

Are There Any Non-Red Cardinals?

While there aren’t any blue cardinals, cardinals can occasionally be found in colors other than red. Rarely, a yellow Northern cardinal may emerge due to a genetic mutation. Even rarer, you might spot a cardinal with the condition leucism, which is similar to albinism and produces a white cardinal.