Cardinal Birds, nesting, babies missing

Question
Today there was a cat in my garden getting ready to pounce some doves feeding from the ground. I yelled at him. I wonder if he did this last night.  Do you know if cardinals will try again in the same nest? If yes, I can maybe protect them better. thanks  
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Followup To

Question -
Hi, I have been searching the internet and cannot find any related information on a cardinals nest, whose 3 eggs hatched 4 days ago. There were 3 babies and just last night i checked to see if the mother was in her nest and she was there. This morning.. was just so sad, and horrible to me. She was not there, so I peeked in the nest to make sure the babies were okay.. it was EMPTY! these babies were only like I said 4 to 5 days old and I am assuming a cat, chipmunk or another bird attacked them. I looked on the ground, I checked the branches out to see I could find them, or any cat or racoon hair etc. and found nothing.. just an empty nest. I see the male cardinal today, still flying around on top of the phone wires singing and I have not seen a female. I am sooo upset and just wanted to know is it at all possible that cardinals will move their babies to a different location once they are born? I didnt think they did from what I read and yesterday the male and female were both in and out of the nest feeding the babies. If you can help me find out what could have happened to them.. I sure would appreciate it. I am hoping the mother is okay and they will try again in the nest she already built.

Answer -
Hi Sandi,

The babies were probably attacked by a larger bird. The cardinals really don't have a way to move their babies around. And a few days old is definently not enough time to learn to fly as you know. I am sorry to hear that they are missing. A cat or fox may have gotten them, depending on the height of where the nest was, but there are many possibilites to what attacked them. I hope I helped you.

Austin

Answer
Hello again Sandi,

Yes it is very likely that the cat attacked the baby birds. Some birds will re-use the same nest, but I am not too sure if cardinals do. The best thing to do is to wait and see, but one thing that is always fun is to put a bird house out there. Bird houses are very fun especially if you have alot of space for them. My favorite bird is the Blue Bird. I have a few bird houses in my back yard and they love them! I hope I helped you. Dont hesitate to ask me more questions. I am always here to help!

Austin