Cardinalis sinuatus
Silhouette: Scott Hartman · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The pyrrhuloxia or desert cardinal (Cardinalis sinuatus) is a medium-sized North American songbird found in the American southwest and northern Mexico. This distinctive species with a short, stout bill, red crest, and red wings closely resembles the northern cardinal and the vermilion cardinal, which are in the same genus.
The desert cardinal is one of three birds in the genus Cardinalis in the family Cardinalidae, a group of passerine birds found in North and South America. Its name of pyrrhuloxia was suggested as a new genus by ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte. He conceived it as portmanteau of the bullfinch genus Pyrrhula and the crossbill genus Loxia as he imagined the bird was an intermediate between the two. The common name, desert cardinal, refers to it inhabiting the southwest, and often arid regions, of the North American continent.
The desert cardinal is a medium-sized song bird; the length for both sexes is about 8.3 in (21 cm), while the typical weight is 0.8–1.5 oz (24–43 g). The most obvious differences between the male desert cardinal and the northern cardinal are in their coloring. The desert cardinal is predominantly brownish... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Cabo Pulmo National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 3 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Bahía de Loreto National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 6 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Burgers' Ocean | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 2 | Royal Burgers' Zoo | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 3 | Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | 🇺🇸 United States |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Pyrrhuloxia sighting in Saguaro National Park on a given day, based on 3,333 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 15th most-seen of the 220 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Pyrrhuloxia in Saguaro National Park on a given day, against about 20% in January, the lowest month. That is one of Saguaro National Park's wettest months, with about 55 mm of rain against almost none in May.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pyrrhuloxia sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Pyrrhuloxia sightings, Saguaro National Park ranks 3rd at about 40%. The best odds are in Big Bend National Park (United States, about 50%) and Cabo Pulmo National Park (Mexico, about 50%). All parks ranked.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pyrrhuloxia is recorded against all the birds logged in Saguaro National Park (3,333 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.
