Paroaria coronata
Silhouette: Sheatherius · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
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...
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Impenetrable National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Iberá National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | El Palmar National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 5 | Haleakala National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Madidi National Park | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 7 | Hawaii Volcanoes National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Iguaçu National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 10 | Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Asuncion | 🇵🇾 Paraguay | |
| 2 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 3 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | Rosario | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 5 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | |
| 6 | Porto Alegre | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Mendoza | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 8 | Cordoba | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 9 | La Paz | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 10 | Curitiba | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pairi Daiza | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 2 | National Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Parque das Aves | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Abilene Zoological Gardens | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Zoo Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Bronx Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Milwaukee County Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Birmingham Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Woodland Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Temaikén | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 11 | Memphis Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Singapore Zoo | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 13 | Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Budapest Zoo & Botanical Garden | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 15 | London Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 16 | El Paso Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Rio de Janeiro Zoological Garden | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 18 | Paphos Zoo | 🇨🇾 Cyprus | |
| 19 | The Abilene Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 20 | St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 21 | Central Park Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 22 | El Jardí dels Ocells | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 23 | Agroflori Parque de las Aves | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 24 | Stadtvolière Lindengut Winterthur | 🇨🇭 Switzerland | |
| 25 | Zooparque Itatiba | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brazilian Cardinal sighting in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 24th most-seen of the 29 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–May, July and September–November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brazilian Cardinal in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June, August and December, the lowest months.
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.
7th of 10
Of the 10 parks where we can rate Brazilian Cardinal sightings, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park ranks 7th at about 10%. The best odds are in El Impenetrable National Park (Argentina, about 80%), Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge (United States, about 70%) and Iberá National Park (Argentina, about 70%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brazilian Cardinal is recorded against all the birds logged in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (14 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
