One of the most colorful and recognizable birds at Southern Arizona backyard feeders is the Northern Cardinal. We are fortunate to have them as year-round residents as cardinals are found only east of New Mexico and north of Texas. Males are brilliant red, but females are brown and sport a sharp crest and warm red accents. The female cardinal is often confused with its cousin the Pyrrhuloxia,which are much rarer in the U.S., just barely ranging into Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Differentiating between a female Northern cardinaland a Pyrrhuloxia can be tricky, since both birds have many similarities, and belong to the same genus - Cardinalidae . Both have tall crests and red feathers, are the same size, weigh about the same and have similar, but not the same, songs.
Adult Cardinal males are easy to identify—bright red overall with a black face and a tall red crest
Female Cardinal — If the bill is large, thickly pointed and red or red-orange, it’s a Cardinal. If there is any black on the face, around the bill and into the eye, it’s a Cardinal. Males and females often travel together, so look for easier to identify males if you’re having trouble identifying a female.
Pyrrhuloxia — If the bill is small, rounded, parrot-like and yellow, it’s a Pyrrhuloxia. If the face is red around the bill and into the eye, and if gray is a predominate color, it’s likely to be a Pyrrhuloxia.
Phainopepla — This crested songbird, common in Southern Arizona, is sometimes called a “desert cardinal,” although it is not related to the cardinal. Phainopeplas lack any redness to their plumage and have more slender bills than female Cardinals and Pyrrhuloxias. Male Phainopeplas are glossy, jet black.