Birdfinding.info ⇒ Common and conspicuous in the core areas of its range, especially in the Pantanal and Argentine Mesopotamia, where it often occurs in large flocks. In Buenos Aires it can often be found at the Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve. In Hawaii it is common to abundant throughout the coastal lowlands of the Big Island.
Yellow-billed Cardinal
Paroaria capitata
South-central South America; introduced to Hawaii.
Inhabits chaco and other brushy woodlands of the Paraná River Basin and adjacent drainages of Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina, from Santa Cruz, southern Mato Grosso, southern Goiás, and western Minas Gerais south to Córdoba and northern Buenos Aires Province. Usually near water, often in gallery forest and seasonally flooded woodlands.
There are apparently introduced populations around several Argentine and Brazilian cities, including Neuquén, Bahía Blanca, Mar del Plata, São Carlos, São Paulo, and Porto Alegre—although some portion of these populations might occur naturally.
An introduced population is well established on the Big Island of Hawaii. First noted in 1972 at Aimakapa Pond, then spread rapidly throughout the island’s coastal lowlands.
Identification
A typical Paroaria cardinal, with dark-gray or blackish upperparts, snow-white underparts, glowing ruby-red head, and nearly complete white collar. Named for its most diagnostic feature: an all-orange bill. Black throat and pale pink legs also differentiate it from some similar species.
Immature plumages can cause confusion. Juveniles begin with grayish-brown upperparts, a pale-brown or tan head, a pale cinnamon or buffy throat, and a brown bill. Older immatures acquire the adult coloration in stages.
Yellow-billed Cardinal. (Rio Pixaim, Mato Grosso, Brazil; September 27, 2018.) © Matthew Grube
Yellow-billed Cardinal. (Pousada Aguape, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil; December 29, 2019.) © Guido Bennen
Yellow-billed Cardinal. (Fazenda Santa Tereza, Mato Grosso, Brazil; October 18, 2010.) © José Ramón Martín
Yellow-billed Cardinal. (Carlos Pellegrini, Corrientes, Argentina; October 25, 2020.) © Sabina De Lucca
Yellow-billed Cardinal. (Pousada Portal Paraíso, Mato Grosso, Brazil; February 9, 2016.) © Luciano Bernardes
Yellow-billed Cardinal. (Isaac Hale Beach Park, Big Island, Hawaii; December 28, 2019.) © Jim Merritt
Yellow-billed Cardinal. (Pousada Piuval, Mato Grosso, Brazil; August 24, 2016.) © Hank Davis
Yellow-billed Cardinal. (Aimakapa Pond, Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, Big Island, Hawaii; March 15, 2019.) © Ryan Sanderson
Yellow-billed Cardinal. (Aimakapa Pond, Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, Big Island, Hawaii; July 4, 2017.) © Brad Argue
Yellow-billed Cardinal. (Fazenda Santa Tereza, Mato Grosso, Brazil; October 18, 2010.) © José Ramón Martín
Yellow-billed Cardinal. (Aimakapa Pond, Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, Big Island, Hawaii; July 20, 2017.) © Domo De Bryl
Yellow-billed Cardinal. (Kealakekua Bay, Big Island, Hawaii; September 14, 2019.) © Nick Kalodimos
Yellow-billed Cardinal, bathing. (Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park, Big Island, Hawaii; June 13, 2018.) © Pete Myers
Yellow-billed Cardinal, immature showing pale cinnamon throat and brown bill. (Poconé, Mato Grosso, Brazil; February 12, 2011.) © Maria Albers
Yellow-billed Cardinal, immature. (Puuhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park, Big Island, Hawaii; May 10, 2018.) © Ron Ludekens
Yellow-billed Cardinal, immature showing pale cinnamon throat and brown bill. (Kealakehe Wastewater Treatment Plant, Big Island, Hawaii; September 17, 2019.) © Bill Brynteson
Yellow-billed Cardinal, immature showing cinnamon throat and brown bill. (Barão de Melgaço, Mato Grosso, Brazil; May 15, 2011.) © Cláudio Girotto
Yellow-billed Cardinal, immature. (Helvecia, Garay, Santa Fé, Argentina; August 20, 2017.) © Jorge Claudio Schlemmer
Yellow-billed Cardinal, immature. (Aimakapa Pond, Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, Big Island, Hawaii; September 17, 2017.) © Eric VanderWerf
Yellow-billed Cardinal, immature. (Aiopio Fish Trap, Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park, Big Island, Hawaii; August 17, 2019.) © Hope Huntington
Yellow-billed Cardinal, immature. (Kailua-Kona Airport, Big Island, Hawaii; August 10, 2018.) © Joe Nirschl
Yellow-billed Cardinal, immature molting into adult plumage. (Keokea Beach Park, Pololu, Big Island, Hawaii; October 27, 2019.) © Anthony Gliozzo
Yellow-billed Cardinal, immature. (Pousada Pouso Alegre, Mato Grosso, Brazil; August 17, 2016.) © Holger Teichmann
Cf. Red-capped Cardinal. Red-capped and Yellow-billed Cardinals are closely related and have almost identical plumage—especially the “Bolivian” form (cervicalis) of Red-capped, which is possibly a separate species and overlaps at least occasionally with Yellow-billed. The main differences are in bare parts coloration: Red-capped has a dark-gray or blackish upper mandible and legs, whereas Yellow-billed has an all-orange bill and pink legs.
Notes
Polytypic species consisting of two recognized subspecies.
References
BirdLife International. 2018. Paroaria capitata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T22721602A132144777. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2018-2.RLTS.T22721602A132144777.en. (Accessed March 24, 2021.)
de la Peña, M.R., and M. Rumboll. 1998. Birds of Southern South America and Antarctica. Princeton University Press.
eBird. 2021. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance. Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, N.Y. http://www.ebird.org. (Accessed March 24, 2021.)
Hawaii Audubon Society. 2005. Hawaii’s Birds (Sixth Edition). Island Heritage Publishing, Waipahu, Hawaii.
Pratt, H.D., P.L. Bruner, and D.G. Berrett. 1987. A Field Guide to the Birds of Hawaii and the Tropical Pacific. Princeton University Press.
Pyle, R.L., and P. Pyle. 2017. The Birds of the Hawaiian Islands: Occurrence, History, Distribution, and Status. Version 2 (January 1, 2017). http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/birds/rlp-monograph/. B.P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Raine, H., and A.F. Raine. 2020. ABA Field Guide to the Birds of Hawai’i. Scott & Nix, Inc., New York.
Ridgely, R.S., and G. Tudor. 2009. Field Guide to the Songbirds of South America: The Passerines. University of Texas Press.
Ridgely, R.S., and G. Tudor. 1989. The Birds of South America, Volume I: The Oscine Passerines. University of Texas Press.
van Perlo, B. 2009. A Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil. Oxford University Press.
Wikiaves. 2021. Cavalaria, https://www.wikiaves.com.br/wiki/cavalaria. (Accessed March 24, 2021.)
Xeno-Canto. 2021. Yellow-billed Cardinal – Paroaria capitata. https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Paroaria-capitata. (Accessed March 24, 2021.)