The vibrant red cardinal is a familiar and admired bird across North America. While many associate the name with a single species, several distinct types of birds are rightly called cardinals, each with unique characteristics and geographical distributions.
The Three Main Cardinal Species
The Cardinalis genus encompasses three distinct species: the Northern Cardinal, the Pyrrhuloxia, and the Vermilion Cardinal. Each possesses specific features and habitats.
The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is the most recognized, particularly the male with its brilliant scarlet plumage and pointed crest. Males also have a distinctive black mask around their eyes and beak. Females are reddish-olive, with red accents on their wings, tail, and crest, and a gray mask.
Northern Cardinals are found from southeastern Canada through the eastern and central United States, extending into Mexico and parts of Central America. They thrive in woodlands, suburban gardens, parks, and shrublands, often frequenting bird feeders. Their loud, clear whistle is a familiar sound, and both sexes are known to sing.
The Pyrrhuloxia (Cardinalis sinuatus), also known as the Desert Cardinal, has a different color palette. Males are predominantly brownish-gray, with rosy-red accents on their breast, face, and crest, with red on their wings and tail. This species is easily identified by its stout, yellowish, parrot-like beak with a curved upper mandible. Females are paler than males, lacking the red breast and face.
Pyrrhuloxias inhabit arid regions of the southwestern United States, including Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, and extend into northern Mexico. They prefer desert scrub, mesquite thickets, and dry streambeds, often foraging for seeds and insects.
The Vermilion Cardinal (Cardinalis phoeniceus) has intensely red plumage. The male is almost entirely scarlet, with a thin black band around the lower part of its heavy gray bill. Both sexes possess a long crest that is erect. The female Vermilion Cardinal has a gray head with red crest feathers, brownish-gray upperparts, and a light cinnamon belly, sometimes with white patches near her beak.
This species is native to northern South America, found in Colombia and Venezuela. Vermilion Cardinals prefer dry, scrubby environments with sparse vegetation, often near water sources, and are found at lower elevations.
Birds Often Confused with Cardinals
Several other bird species share striking red plumage, leading to frequent confusion with true cardinals, despite belonging to different genera or families. Distinguishing these birds often comes down to specific physical characteristics like the presence of a crest, beak shape, and patterns of coloration.
The Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra) is an entirely red bird, but it lacks the crest and black facial mask of the male Northern Cardinal. Male Summer Tanagers have a more rose-hued red plumage compared to the crimson of a Northern Cardinal, and their beak is longer and straighter, bone-colored, contrasting with the cardinal’s thick, conical red-orange bill. Female Summer Tanagers are yellowish to yellowish-green. Unlike cardinals, Summer Tanagers are migratory, spending winters in Central and South America.
The Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea). Male Scarlet Tanagers are scarlet red, but they have black wings and a black tail, and they do not have a crest. Their bill is also paler and more slender than the cardinal’s. Females are yellowish-olive with darker wings and tail. Scarlet Tanagers are migratory birds, breeding in eastern North America and wintering in South America, inhabiting the upper canopy of deciduous woodlands.
The Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus obscurus) is a smaller bird with red underparts and crown, but it has a black mask, back, and wings. While the male has a bright red head, it lacks the crest of a cardinal. Its beak is also more slender than the cardinal’s robust, seed-cracking bill, reflecting its diet of insects caught in flight. Females are duller, with gray and white plumage and a pinkish or yellowish belly. These flycatchers are found from the southwestern United States south through Central and South America, in open areas near water.