PART TWO: BIRDS AT THE FEEDER

Birds at the Feeder

(Southwestern) Cardinal 

This bird, common at our feeder, looks like the common Cardinal seen throughout the east, but it may not be. Look at this picture below, which I took in Arkansas. It is the eastern Cardinal, an overall bright red, a modest crest, and black all around the mouth. The upper picture, taken here in Tucson, is the "southwestern" Cardinal. Note the taller, bushier crest, the overall paler red, and reduced black around the mouth. The song is also somewhat different. There are enough differences that some ornithologists think it is a different species, a Southwestern Cardinal.

 

 To complicate things we have here also a close relative of the Cardinal: the Pyrrhuloxia. It is as exotic as its name.

You might not think so from these close-up pictures, but this species is sometimes tricky to tell from a Cardinal. The best thing to do if you are trying to separate the two species, is to pay attention to the bill. An immature cardinal has a black bill, which slowly becomes red with maturity. So a black bill, or  bill with any red on it, is a cardinal. The Pyrrhuloxia has a shortened almost rounded bill which is  yellowish or grayish in color.

END OF PART TWO