Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Populations of Pyrrhuloxia have declined due to loss of habitat across the Southwestern United States (Tweit and Thompson 1999).
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
Pyrrhuloxia forage on the ground for seeds of bristlegrass, doveweed, sandbur, pancium, sorghum, and pigweed (Oberholser 1974). The birds will also eat fruits of cactus and insects including grasshoppers, caterpillars, beetles, stinkbugs, and cicadas (Oberholser 1974).
Cardinalis sinuatus is distributed in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico (Tweit and Thompson 1999). In the United States Pyrrhuloxia can be found in Baja California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas (Oberholser 1974), southwestern Kansas, southern Colorado, and western Oklahoma (Tweit and Thompson 1999).
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); neotropical (Native )
Pyrrhuloxia inhabit arid habitats such as mesquite thickets and desert creek beds (Tveten 1993).
Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune ; forest
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 97 months.
There is a sexual dimorphism in coloration. Male Cardinalis sinuatus are mainly gray with red located on the face, crest, wing, and tail (Scott 1983). The female is grayish brown, and is sometimes mistaken for a female Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis (Oberholser 1974). The females have red highlights on the thighs and the wing linings (Tveten 1993). The bill is heavy and hooked in both the male and the female (Tveten 1993). In the male, the bill is orange yellow (Scott 1983), while the female's bill is a duller yellow (Tveten 1993). Both the male and female have the diagnostic tall crest on the head (Tveten 1993). The juvenile Pyrrhuloxia, male or female, resembles the female except the bill is darker (Oberholser 1974).
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes colored or patterned differently
Average mass: 32 g.
Average basal metabolic rate: 0.396495 W.
The breeding season varies with the environment, but it usually begins around mid-March and ends in mid-August (Baicich and Harrison 1997). The behavior of these birds changes during the breeding season. Territories are established and defended during the breeding season. The males will feed his mate during courtship and incubation (Tveten 1993).
The female builds a small nest of twigs, weeds, and bark either in the mesquite brush or on the ground against the trunk (Bacich and Harrison 1997).
The female lays 2-3 grayish-white eggs with gray and brown speckles (Tveten 1993). The incubation period lasts for about 14 days. Throughout the incubation period, about 14 days, the female is fed by the male (Baicich and Harrison 1997).
The newly hatched young have pale gray downy feathers. The nestlings will not leave the nest for 10 days. During this time both the male and female will tend to the young, providing nutrition and protection (Baicich and Harrison 1997).
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; oviparous
Average time to hatching: 14 days.
Average eggs per season: 3.
The pyrrhuloxia /ˌpɪrəˈlɒksiə/[2] or desert cardinal (Cardinalis sinuatus) is a medium-sized North American song bird found in the American southwest and northern Mexico. This distinctive species with a short, stout bill and red crest and wings, and closely resembles the northern cardinal and the vermilion cardinal, which are in the same genus.
The desert cardinal is one of three birds in the genus Cardinalis in the family Cardinalidae, a group of passerine birds found in North and South America.
Its name of pyrrhuloxia – once part of its scientific name – comes from Greek terms describing its coloration (πυρρος = pyrrhos = reddish or orange) and the shape of its bill (λοξος = loxos = oblique).[3][4] The common name, desert cardinal, refers to it inhabiting the southwest, and often arid regions, of the North American continent.
The desert cardinal is a medium-sized song bird; the length for both sexes is about 8.3 in (21 cm), while the typical weight is 0.8–1.5 oz (24–43 g).[5]
The most obvious differences between the male desert cardinal and the northern cardinal are in their coloring. The desert cardinal is predominantly brownish-gray with a red breast, a red mask, and a yellow, parrot-like bill that is stout and rounded.[6] The females of the two species resemble each other much more closely, but the shapes of their bills are diagnostic. The songs of the two species are identical, though the pyrrhuloxia's is not quite as loud. This cardinal retains the distinctive long, pointed, red crest present in all species.
The pyrrhuloxia is a year-round resident of desert scrub and mesquite thickets, in the U.S. states of Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas and woodland edges in Mexico. It occupies the southwestern half of Texas, roughly the southern third of New Mexico, and southeastern region of Arizona. Its range includes areas from the west to east coast of Mexico north of the Sierra Madre del Sur, Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, and Isthmus of Tehuantepec, while excluding the Sierra Madre Occidental. An individual of the species has reportedly been seen as far away from its dominant range as Costa Mesa, California, in Orange County.[7]
This cardinal is relatively nonmigratory, though it may occasionally stray slightly north of its usual range. The pyrrhuloxia prefers habitat along stream beds. In areas where the range of the pyrrhuloxia and northern cardinal overlap, hybridization may occur between them.[5]
In breeding season, songs are used to establish and defend territories. One song has a sharp, clear, "wha-cheer, wha-cheer", while another is characteristic of a metallic "quink". Females also sing, but they use softer and duller notes. A short "cheep" or "chip" is a regular contact call given by both sexes while foraging.
The pyrrhuloxia's diet consists of seeds, fruits, and insects. While foraging, the desert cardinal snatches insects from trees and picks seeds predominantly from the stalks of grasses and similar plants. It also seeks out cactus fruit for consumption. This bird is a benefit to cotton fields, as it assists in eating populations of cotton worms and weevils.[8] This species of cardinal also visits bird feeders and in the winter forages in huge flocks, sometimes numbering in the thousands.[5]
The breeding season for this cardinal usually begins in mid-March, ending in mid-August. As the breeding season approaches, territories are established and defended by the male.[9] The male defends the territory by chasing away intruders and from a good vantage point, singing. Where both the desert and northern cardinal breeding territories overlap, no interspecific conflicts have been observed.[5]
The desert cardinal places its nest in dense shrub, often concealed. The nest is small and forms a bowl or cup-like shape made up of grass, twigs, or bits of tree bark. Clutches of two to four eggs are most common, while the eggs are whitish with specks of green or gray. During an incubation period of two weeks, the male brings food to the female. At hatching, the chicks are helpless and have a bright yellow bill with red lining around the mouth. The chicks fledge around 10 days old, while both the male and female tend to the young.[10] The young bird can wait for up to a month before fully fledging, becoming independent and feeding in large flocks. During this period, the bird achieves complete growth.[5]
As large areas of the pyrrhuloxia's habitat in its northern range have been lost to humans, unlike with the northern cardinal, the former's populations appear to be in a slight decline.[9]
Male in Tucson, Arizona
Male in Tucson
Male in Roma, Texas
Feeding male
Male in Columbus, New Mexico
The pyrrhuloxia /ˌpɪrəˈlɒksiə/ or desert cardinal (Cardinalis sinuatus) is a medium-sized North American song bird found in the American southwest and northern Mexico. This distinctive species with a short, stout bill and red crest and wings, and closely resembles the northern cardinal and the vermilion cardinal, which are in the same genus.
