Yellow-billed Cardinal - BirdForum Opus

Adult, nominate subspecies
Photo © by Wes Syposz
Pantanal, Mato Grosso, Brazil, 25 April 2007

Paroaria capitata

Identification

16½ cm (6½ in)
Adults

Pinkish-yellow bill
Red cap
Black bib
White collar which almost meets at the back of the neck

Juveniles have a brownish head.

Juvenile
Photo © by Bob Sheldon
Keauhou, Hawaii, USA, 21 January 2012

Distribution

South America: found in Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. Introduced on the Island of Hawaii.

Taxonomy

Subspecies

There are 2 subspecies^[1]:

P. c. capitata:

South-western Brazil (Mato Grosso) to Paraguay and northern Argentina

P. c. fuscipes:

South-eastern Bolivia (Fortín Campero region in Tarija)

Habitat

A wide variety of habitats from pantanal, river edges, moist shrubland and city parks.

Behaviour

Diet

Their varied diet consists of seeds, berries, shoots and also insects.

Breeding

Cup shaped nest built from fibers, short roots, and hair situated in a tree. Clutches are usually 3-4 greenish-ochre eggs with markings throughout.

Vocalisation

Song is usually a melodious repetition of 2–3 notes in set pattern.

Movements

Sedentary

References

Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Avibase
Arthur Grosset
Jaramillo, A. (2020). Yellow-billed Cardinal (Paroaria capitata). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/62104 on 12 February 2020).
Pratt, H.D., Bruner, P., and Berrett, D.G. (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. B.P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, HI, U.S.A. Version 2 (1 January 2017) http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/birds/rlp-monograph/
Yellow-billed Cardinal (Paroaria capitata), In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. retrieved from Neotropical Birds Online: https://neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/yebcar

List of references

Recommended Citation

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Yellow-billed Cardinal. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Yellow-billed_Cardinal

External Links

Search for photos of Yellow-billed Cardinal in the gallery

GSearch checked for 2020 platform.1