Pyrrhuloxia- A Tough Name to Pronounce

and an even tougher name to spell

The Northern Cardinal may be the most recognizable bird in all of North America. Everybody seems to know what a Cardinal is. Here in the Sonoran Desert we have a bird that looks like its Cardinal cousin that is called a Pyrrhuloxia. Its name is pronounced Pie-ruh-lock-see-ya. The Pyrrhuloxia is in the same genus as the Northern Cardinal but it is definitely a different species of bird. The general body shape of the two species is similar, and both have red coloring, but look closely at the bill of the Pyrrhuloxia and note that the male bird, seen below, is not red all over.

The birds in this email were all in my yard one morning. The male Cardinal below is all red except for the black face mask. Note the color of its bill as well as the shape: thick, conical and with a point at the end.

Cardinals are very common throughout the Eastern United States. In the AllAboutBirds range map below, you can see the purple (year-round) range of the Cardinal. It is seen in the eastern half of the US before dipping down into Mexico and then reappearing in Southern Arizona, having mostly skipped New Mexico.

The Pyrrhuloxia, on the other hand, is a desert resident. Its AllAboutBirds range map shows this bird to be common only in the Southwestern deserts.

The male Pyrrhuloxia has a red face and has red on its crest, its wings, its belly and its tail. The amount of red is variable from male to male. You can see that the bill is much lighter compared to the Cardinals. It also is curved, almost parrot-like

Sometimes people get confused when they see a female Cardinal, like the bird below. Its colors are somewhat similar to the male Pyrrhuloxia but the female Cardinal is a shade of brown versus the gray shade of the Pyrrhuloxia. Note the bill difference and note that the female Cardinal has a hint of black on its face next to the bill. The bill of the Pyrrhuloxia is surrounded by red feathers.

Again, note the bill shape of the Pyrrhuloxia. It is very different from that of the Cardinal. Pyrrhuloxias and Cardinals are similarly sized. They both have long tails and a crest. Their calls are very similar and they share a diet of seeds, insects and fruits. They both share the same range in the Southwestern deserts.

In general, Pyrrhuloxias may prefer more desert habitat than Cardinals, but I do have both in my yard and in my neighborhood, so there is much overlap.

Both of these species are great to have around. Some people like to refer to the Pyrrhuloxia as the “Desert Cardinal” but I prefer to not use that name. The bird deserves its own name and I don’t think it should just be considered a desert version of a Cardinal. In my house we don’t use the term Desert Cardinal. We are proud to have “Pyrrhuloxias” around.

To learn more about the Pyrrhuloxia, read the article from Tucson Bird Alliance here.