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Tucson Audubon Society
Dastardly Duos
Northern
Cardinal and Pyrrhuloxia
by Larry Liese
Illustrations by George C. West
(Article first appeared in the March, 2002 Vermilion
Flycatcher newsletter. To receive the newsletter in the mail, become a
member of the Friends of Tucson Audubon.)
There comes a time in every budding birder’s career where he or she has to bite the bullet and start learning to distinguish between similar female and immature birds as well as the adult males. A good pair of species to cut your teeth on (ouch!) is the Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), and the Pyrrhuloxia (Cardinalis sinuatus). Both are resident in southeastern Arizona, and many of us have both right in our backyards!
One
thing I like about this duo is that they help break beginning birders out
of the “single-field-mark” syndrome. When they are told to look at the
color of the bill (red/orange for cardinal – yellow for Pyrrhuloxia),
sooner or later along comes a juvenile with a dark bill! What gives? Now,
curious, they will want to know what’s going on, and with the many quality field
guides available, will look it up and learn.
This is a point I try to make on Audubon field trips. When an interesting
field mark is observed by the group, checking out how this mark appears in
the different field guides at hand will cause the information to stick in
one’s memory and come readily to mind when next observing this species.
I’ve found that I retain details obtained in this manner better than
from casual perusal of those same guides.
Now, back to this issue’s duo. The adult male cardinal doesn’t need an introduction. He is probably the most recognizable bird in America after the adult Bald Eagle. My two favorite field marks to look for next are the shape of the bill and color of the facial feathers at the base of the bill.
Pyrrhuloxias have a shorter, parrotlike bill with a noticeable upward curve between bill halves, with a rounder blunt end. Cardinal bills are much longer, and have an almost straight line between bill halves. This distinguishing characteristic works well for identifying juveniles. Both adult cardinals have black facial feathers at the bill’s base. Adult male Pyrrhuloxias have red facial feathering surrounding the bill’s base, while the Pyrrhuloxia female and juveniles of both species lack color there.
Adult female and juvenile cardinals are a warm brown overall, while the adult male Pyrrhuloxia is distinctly gray, and the adult female and juveniles are grayish brown. For many birders, this is all they need to observe to tell them apart. Also, notice how pointed the Pyrrhuloxia’s crest is the next time you see one. Cardinal crests form a much squatter triangle.
If any of these details are hard to keep straight, simply go outside, fill up the bird feeder, relax quietly in a chair, and look closely when one of this duo comes to visit. Good luck!
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This page was updated on 02/21/06