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Red-capped Cardinal

Paroaria gularis

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernInvertebratesShrublandCup nestSmall · 24 g
Red-capped Cardinal (Paroaria gularis), photo 1
Photo: Manuel R Popp · CC BY 4.0
Red-capped Cardinal (Paroaria gularis), photo 2
Photo: Joao Quental · CC BY 2.0
Red-capped Cardinal (Paroaria gularis), photo 3
Photo: Dan Vickers · CC BY 4.0
Red-capped Cardinal (Paroaria gularis), photo 4
Photo: Kathy Richardson · CC BY 4.0
Red-capped Cardinal (Paroaria gularis), photo 5
Photo: Joao Quental · CC BY 2.0
Red-capped Cardinal (Paroaria gularis), photo 6
Photo: C. P. Ewing · CC BY 2.0
Red-capped Cardinal (Paroaria gularis), photo 7
Photo: Paroaria_gularis_nigrogenis_2.jpg: Cristóbal Alvarado Minic from Cagua, Venezuela derivative work: Berichard (talk) · CC BY 2.0
Red-capped Cardinal (Paroaria gularis), photo 8
Photo: Cristóbal Alvarado Minic from Cagua, Venezuela · CC BY 2.0

What the Red-capped Cardinal sounds like

Sonogram of the Red-capped Cardinal: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Song · Sucumbíos: 'La Selva Jungle Lodge', n bank Río Napo, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto
Sonogram of the Red-capped Cardinal: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Niels Krabbe · Song · Orellana: Laguna Añangu ('Napo Wildlife Center'), s-bank Río Napo, Ecuador · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

The adult red-capped cardinal is 16.5 cm (6.5 in) long and weighs about 22 g (0.78 oz). The nominate subspecies has a crimson head, blackish lores and ocular region, and shiny black upperparts, apart from a white partial collar extending up the neck sides from the white underparts. The throat is black, extending to a point on the upper chest. The upper mandible is black, while the lower is pale flesh-coloured. The legs are dark grey (almost black) and the iris is brownish-orange.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Red-capped Cardinal

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is October, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Red-capped Cardinal

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 9 countries with regular records, and 1 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.

Peru Brazil Ecuador Colombia Bolivia Guyana Suriname Venezuela French Guiana

Recorded as a rare visitor in Taiwan.

About the Red-capped Cardinal

The red-capped cardinal is a small species of bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. It is found in South America.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Red-cowled Cardinal (Paroaria dominicana) Red-cowled CardinalParoaria dominicanaThe red-cowled cardinal is a bird species in the tanager family (Thraupidae). Masked Cardinal (Paroaria nigrogenis) Masked CardinalParoaria nigrogenisThe masked cardinal is a bird species in the tanager family (Thraupidae). Yellow-billed Cardinal (Paroaria capitata) Yellow-billed CardinalParoaria capitataThe yellow-billed cardinal is a bird species in the tanager family (Thraupidae).

Side by side: Red-capped Cardinal vs Red-crested Cardinal

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