The northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is one of North America’s most popular, familiar, and beloved birds. Within its range, it is a common backyard feeder bird and every holiday season its visage is spread across a vast array of holiday décor. In fact, my Christmas tree topper is a northern cardinal! For some people, the bird has spiritual significance. It is said that visits from a cardinal are a sign that a deceased loved one is watching over you. I must have a lot of loved ones watching over me since cardinals are a constant presence in my backyard. Or it could be that they just like my choice of bird seed.
Northern cardinals can be found from southern Canada and Maine in the east, west to Minnesota, south to Texas and into southern California, and down into most of Central America. They’ve also been introduced into Hawaii and Bermuda. They’re the state bird of seven different states, making them the most used state bird.
Cardinals are non-migratory, and their brilliant crimson red plumage juxtaposed against a wintery landscape is a sight sure to elicit a sense of awe, no matter how often you see it. Only the males display this color however, females are grayish brown with red highlights on the crest, wings, and tail. Northern cardinals live in a range of habitats, including forest edges, overgrown fields, hedgerows, gardens, city parks, and wetlands. They mostly feed on seeds and fruit but will also take invertebrate prey, especially when raising chicks.
For a passerine bird, the Northern cardinal is fairly popular as toys and figurines. This isn’t even my first cardinal review, as I previously wrote about the one in Safari’s Backyard Bird TOOB. Safari also made one for their Incredible Creatures line and a Good Luck Mini. Cardinals from other companies include those by K&M, Archie McPhee, Marx, and Wild Republic. Plush cardinals are even more abundant. For 2025, both Mojo Fun and Papo released cardinal figures. I was originally going to get and review Papo’s, but it has not shown up in the United States yet, so I got Mojo’s instead. Not surprisingly, all cardinal figures represent males.
Mojo released a number of bird figures over the last couple of years, for their newly launched Garden Birds line. I’ll probably end up getting them all but to start with I went with the figures representing species that are local to me, this Northern cardinal and the American goldfinch. Bmathison1972 previously reviewed the house sparrow.
Mojo’s cardinal measures 3.25” (8.3 cm) from beak to tail tip and stands just over 2” (5.08 cm) tall. The actual northern cardinal measures 8.3-9.1” (21-23 cm) and has a wingspan of 9.8-12.2” (25-31 cm). Using body length puts Mojo’s figure at 1/3.6-1/4 in scale. The figure is presented in a perched pose with the head looking slightly rightward. It is affixed to a base that’s textured like a pinecone.
The figure sports the short, thick bill that allows the northern cardinal to crack open seeds. The feather detailing is exquisite, with nice layering evident around the nape, back, and breast. The feathers on the crest are fine and hair-like. The folded wings and tail display individually detailed flight feathers, complete with central shafts and barbs, and even breaks between some of the barbs. The rest of the figure appears soft and downy, with a dense covering of contour feathers.
I appreciate the use of a base with Mojo’s birds because it allows the legs to be sculpted as thin as they would be in life, rather than thickened for stability as with Papo’s birds. The legs and toes on this figure are needle thin and detailed with tarsal scutes. The toes are sculpted onto the base while the legs are sculpted on the bird, so there is a visible seam line where the legs and toes attach.
The bill is red and surrounded by a black face, but the black is not as crisp as it would ideally be. Female cardinals also have a red bill and black face. The eyes are black and shiny, appearing wet and lifelike. The rest of the bird is red but there’s darker red along the edges of the wings and on the tip of the tail. In life, the red on the back is darker and duller than elsewhere. That’s not reflected here except along the wings, but I won’t judge the toy too harshly for it. The legs are pink with shiny gray claws. The paint application is excellent for a figure such as this and by Mojo standards. There is some slight bleeding, especially on the legs, and some misapplied specks of paint here-and-there.
Songbird figures are a rarity in this hobby and by launching this line of garden birds, Mojo is filling a niche that is in desperate need of attention. Of course, for this line to succeed the models will have to generate money, so show Mojo some support and pick up some or all of these birds. Mojo’s cardinal in particular represents a somewhat commonly made species but it does a better job at representing it than most of the others. It is a bit more crisp and refined (and larger) than the Safari TOOB figure and although I cannot speak on the quality of Papo’s this one will certainly be easier to find if you live in the United States.