Brazilian Cardinal

Brazilian Cardinal

Paroaria coronata

Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Mendoza

In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%

75 Verified sightings at Mendoza
2,231 In all 6 parks From 2019 to 2026
March Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Brazilian Cardinal

The red-crested cardinal (Paroaria coronata) is a passerine bird in the tanager family Thraupidae. Notwithstanding its similar name, this bird is not closely related to the true cardinal family Cardinalidae. It is sometimes known as the Brazilian cardinal.

In 1776 the English illustrator John Frederick Miller included a hand-coloured plate of the red-crested cardinal in his Icones animalium et plantarum. He coined the binomial name Loxia coronata. The type locality was subsequently designated as Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. The red-crested cardinal is now one of six species placed in the genus Paroaria that was introduced in 1832 by the French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. The genus name is from Tiéguacú paroára, a name for a small yellow, red, and grey bird in the extinct Tupi language. The specific epithet coronata is Latin meaning "crowned"

The red-crested cardinal is a medium-sized species showing a red head, with a red bib and a short red crest that the bird raises when excited. Belly, breast, and undertail are white, with a gray back, wings, and tail. Wing coverts are gray... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song0:07

Argentina · 2026

Pedro Sanetti · XC1090718 · CC0

Recording0:31

Argentina · 2024

© Sabrina Andrea Rendon Anaya · XC872085 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:32

Brazil · 2021

© JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · XC686320 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 El Impenetrable National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~80%
2 Iberá National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~70%
3 El Palmar National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~60%
4 Iguaçu National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
5 Iguazú National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
<5%
6 Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Asuncion 🇵🇾 Paraguay
~60%
2 Santa Cruz de la Sierra 🇧🇴 Bolivia
~40%
3 Buenos Aires 🇦🇷 Argentina
~40%
4 Rosario 🇦🇷 Argentina
~40%
5 Montevideo 🇺🇾 Uruguay
~40%
6 Porto Alegre 🇧🇷 Brazil
~30%
7 Mendoza 🇦🇷 Argentina
~20%
8 Cordoba 🇦🇷 Argentina
~20%
9 La Paz 🇧🇴 Bolivia
~10%
10 Curitiba 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%

Zoos & Centres Where Found

# Zoo / Centre Country
1 Pairi Daiza 🇧🇪 Belgium In captivity
2 National Zoological Park 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
3 Parque das Aves 🇧🇷 Brazil In captivity
4 Abilene Zoological Gardens 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
5 Zoo Miami 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
6 Bronx Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
7 Milwaukee County Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
8 Birmingham Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
9 Woodland Park Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
10 Temaikén 🇦🇷 Argentina In captivity
11 Memphis Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
12 Singapore Zoo 🇸🇬 Singapore In captivity
13 Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
14 Budapest Zoo & Botanical Garden 🇭🇺 Hungary In captivity
15 London Zoo 🇬🇧 United Kingdom In captivity
16 El Paso Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
17 Rio de Janeiro Zoological Garden 🇧🇷 Brazil In captivity
18 Paphos Zoo 🇨🇾 Cyprus In captivity
19 The Abilene Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
20 St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
21 Central Park Zoo 🇺🇸 United States In captivity
22 El Jardí dels Ocells 🇪🇸 Spain In captivity
23 Agroflori Parque de las Aves 🇧🇴 Bolivia In captivity
24 Stadtvolière Lindengut Winterthur 🇨🇭 Switzerland In captivity
25 Zooparque Itatiba 🇧🇷 Brazil In captivity

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Brazilian Cardinal in Mendoza?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Brazilian Cardinal sighting in Mendoza on a given day, based on 75 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 31st most-seen of the 69 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Brazilian Cardinal in Mendoza?

March

In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Brazilian Cardinal in Mendoza on a given day, against about 10% in January and September–November, the lowest months. That is one of Mendoza's wettest months, with about 35 mm of rain against 10 mm in June.

What time of day is best to see a Brazilian Cardinal?

Between 9 am and noon

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brazilian Cardinal sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Mendoza the best place to see a Brazilian Cardinal?

7th of 14

Of the 14 cities where we can rate Brazilian Cardinal sightings, Mendoza ranks 7th at about 20%. The best odds are in Asuncion (Paraguay, about 60%), Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia, about 40%) and Buenos Aires (Argentina, about 40%).

Which relatives of the Brazilian Cardinal live in Mendoza?

Same family: Thraupidae

The closest relatives of the Brazilian Cardinal that you can see in Mendoza (family Thraupidae, Tanagers and Allies) are Saffron Finch (about 70%), Blue-and-yellow Tanager (about 20%) and Grey-hooded Sierra-Finch (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Brazilian Cardinal sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Brazilian Cardinal is recorded against all the birds logged in Mendoza (75 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

← Back to Mendoza