By Alisha Brewer
If I asked you to close your eyes and picture a cardinal, could you do it? Now, if I asked you to describe a cardinal using one and only one word, what would it be? “Red”, right? We Tucsonans love our cardinals! That deep red color makes them easily distinguishable as they dart across the desert sky.
We put a bird feeder outside of my son’s window. We’ve been enjoying watching all the different birds that it attracts. Then one day, it showed up. What it was, I wasn’t quite sure. It looked just like a cardinal, but its body was almost entirely slate gray. It had bursts of red on its chest, eyes and at the top of its little crown. At first I thought, “Oh! It must be a female cardinal.” But, as we watched it day after day I started to second guess myself. This bird had way too much red on its face and chest to be a female. Maybe a juvenile male? The weeks passed on, but there was no color change. My cardinal conundrum began.
After some research, I found that it wasn’t a cardinal at all! Our little visitor was a pyrrhuloxia. Pyrrhuloxia? That’s a mouthful! Why anyone would think that is a great name for a bird is beyond me. But, it is what it is. And pyrrhuloxia is for sure what it was.
So, what’s the difference? The Desert Museum states that the pyrrhuloxia is “very closely related” to the cardinal, which is why their features (even their calls) are so similar. Mistaking them is quite easy to do. Male cardinals are covered in red. A male pyrrhuloxia is mostly gray and has only splashes of red around his eyes, on his chest, wing tips and crown. Cardinals have smaller, orange colored bills. Pyrrhuloxia have larger, yellow, more curved and parrot-like bills. Seeds and insects make up the majority of both of their diets.
Both species live together in the dense brushes and foliage of our desert. However, pyrrhuloxia is able to venture into more open and arid places and can survive in harsher conditions.
So don’t let these little tricksters fool you! We’re smack in the middle of their breeding season right now. If you keep your eyes peeled, you may catch sight of one of these common desert birds. No cardinal confusion for you! Enjoy the sights of our beautiful (and sometimes perplexing) pyrrhuloxia!
Alisha Brewer is a veteran zoo keeper of nearly 15 years. U of A alum. Boy mom, veggie dog connoisseur, anti Oxford comma and eternal optimist. Alisha hopes to connect residents to the incredible creatures that surround us.
