Yellow Billed Cardinal

Yellow-Billed Cardinal

 Paroaria capitata

Photographed in the wild, Big Island of Hawaii   Mar 2014

This so-called cardinal is actually a tanager-finches, quite distantly related from the true cardinals. The Yellow-billed Cardinal is not a crested species, so other than having red on the head, there is nothing very cardinal-like about it at all! The head is bright red, turning black on the throat, and as the name states, the bill is orangey yellow about the same colour as the legs. The underparts are white and the upper-parts blackish, and these are separated by a white half collar from the red head. This cardinal is a species of streamside vegetation, being found also around lakes and swamps and often feeding right from the water’s edge. Where it overlaps with the larger Red-crested Cardinal, the Red-crested takes habitats in drier and shrubbier habitats, while the Yellow-billed is more of the wetland species. However, they both overlap to some extent. The bright coloration and nice song has made them a prime candidate as a cage bird in South America. It has been successfully introduced to several of the larger islands in Hawaii!

Return to Cardinals

Red-capped Cardinal

Red-capped Cardinal

 Paroariagularis

Photographed at Discovery Cove, Orlando, Florida   Mar 2011

The distinguishing features of the Red-capped Cardinal are the black bib below the red cap, the generally black bill with a pale base of the mandible, a partial white collar and a black smudge around the eye. Often mistaken for a Red Crested Cardinal

This South American bird’s breeding takes place from June to September. The nest is a shallow cup, about 9-10 cm wide and 7 cm high and is built in a tree. It is built of thin twigs, and ferns. 2-3 eggs are laid.

Return to Cardinals

Northern Cardinal

Northern Cardinal

(Cardinalis cardinalis)

Photographed in the wild

Toronto, Canada  May 2007   Jul   2008

Named because its colour that matches the red garment of the Catholic Cardinals. Cardinals can be found year-round popping into feeders with close by shelter from shrubs and trees.

Males are bright red with a black mask and orangey red short bill. Females are dull brown and red in body colour with matching beaks and mask and with red tail feathers.

Cardinals are known for their bonding and can be heard singing to its mate. This makes it ideal to be able to see both the male and female. They are fairly new to the northern area

Return to Cardinals

Pyrrhuloxia

Pyrrhuloxia Cardinal

Cardinalis sinuatus

Photographed in the wild, Tucson, Arizona     Mar 2010

The name "Pyrrhuloxia" is a combination of the genus names Pyrrhula (bullfinches) and Loxia (crossbills). Also known as the desert cardinal. The roots mean "flame-coloured" and "crooked," and aptly describe the reddish bird with the crooked bill.

The Pyrrhuloxia lives in the south-western United States and northern Mexico. A thick-billed, reddish bird with a crest, it superficially resembles its close relative, the Northern Cardinal.

Where both the Pyrrhuloxia and Northern Cardinal breed, territories of the two species may overlap, and no conflicts have been recorded between the species.

Return to Cardinals

Cardinals

Northern     Pyrrhuloxia               Red Capped                Yellow Billed

They are robust, seed-eating birds with strong bills. The family's smallest member is the 4.7-in, 0.40-oz orange-breasted bunting. They are typically associated with open woodland. The sexes usually have distinctive appearances. The northern cardinal type species was named by colonists for the male's red crest, reminiscent of a Catholic cardinal's biretta.

The "North American buntings" are known as such to distinguish them from buntings of the Old World family Emberizidae. The name "cardinal-grosbeak" can also apply to the cardinalid family as a whole.