By Rebecca Todd
Geographic Range
Cardinalis sinuatus is distributed in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico (Tweit and Thompson 1999). In the United States Pyrrhuloxia can be found in Baja California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas (Oberholser 1974), southwestern Kansas, southern Colorado, and western Oklahoma (Tweit and Thompson 1999).
Biogeographic Regions:
nearctic 
(native ); neotropical (native ).
Habitat
Pyrrhuloxia inhabit arid habitats such as mesquite thickets and desert creek beds (Tveten 1993).
Terrestrial Biomes:
desert or dune ; forest .
Physical Description
There is a sexual dimorphism in coloration. Male Cardinalis sinuatus are mainly gray with red located on the face, crest, wing, and tail (Scott 1983). The female is grayish brown, and is sometimes mistaken for a female Northern Cardinal, Cardinalis cardinalis (Oberholser 1974). The females have red highlights on the thighs and the wing linings (Tveten 1993). The bill is heavy and hooked in both the male and the female (Tveten 1993). In the male, the bill is orange yellow (Scott 1983), while the female's bill is a duller yellow (Tveten 1993). Both the male and female have the diagnostic tall crest on the head (Tveten 1993). The juvenile Pyrrhuloxia, male or female, resembles the female except the bill is darker (Oberholser 1974). (Oberholser, 1974; Scott, 1983; Tveten, 1993)
Some key physical features:
endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry .
Sexual dimorphism: sexes colored or patterned differently.
Reproduction
The breeding season varies with the environment, but it usually begins around mid-March and ends in mid-August (Baicich and Harrison 1997). The behavior of these birds changes during the breeding season. Territories are established and defended during the breeding season. The males will feed his mate during courtship and incubation (Tveten 1993).
The female builds a small nest of twigs, weeds, and bark either in the mesquite brush or on the ground against the trunk (Bacich and Harrison 1997).
The female lays 2-3 grayish-white eggs with gray and brown speckles (Tveten 1993). The incubation period lasts for about 14 days. Throughout the incubation period, about 14 days, the female is fed by the male (Baicich and Harrison 1997).
The newly hatched young have pale gray downy feathers. The nestlings will not leave the nest for 10 days. During this time both the male and female will tend to the young, providing nutrition and protection (Baicich and Harrison 1997). (Bacich and Harrison, 1997; Tveten, 1993)
Key reproductive features:
iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; oviparous .
Behavior
Although Pyrrhuloxia are nonmigratory, they will wander from their territories (Tveten 1993). The birds will forage in flocks of up to one thousand individuals, in the winter (Oberholser 1974).
The call of Cardinalis sinuatus is described as a whistled what-cheer, what-cheer (Scott 1983). The males will call during February to August, however the females rarely sing (Oberholser 1974). The singing usually begins during incubation of the eggs and will end when the nestlings leave the nest (Tweit and Thompson 1999).
Key behaviors:
flies; motile .
Food Habits
Pyrrhuloxia forage on the ground for seeds of bristlegrass, doveweed, sandbur, pancium, sorghum, and pigweed (Oberholser 1974). The birds will also eat fruits of cactus and insects including grasshoppers, caterpillars, beetles, stinkbugs, and cicadas (Oberholser 1974).
Conservation Status
Populations of Pyrrhuloxia have declined due to loss of habitat across the Southwestern United States (Tweit and Thompson 1999).
Contributors
Rebecca Todd (author), Southwestern University.
Stephanie Fabritius (editor), Southwestern University.
