What Do Cardinals Look Like? Identification With Pictures

Those who are living in the United States and Canada would recognize northern cardinals. These wild birds are amazing, bright, and lively. They’re fairly large, long-tailed songsters with thick bills and prominent crests.

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If you haven’t seen cardinals yet, you might be wondering, “what do cardinals look like?” Male cardinals have brilliant red plumage overall with a black face around the bill. The females, on the other hand, are pale brown with reddish tinges in the crest, wings, and tail. Both sexes have red-orange bills.

This article is a supplement to our previously published article on attracting northern cardinals. Once you have finished reading the current article, take a look at that article to know in-depth information about luring a variety of cardinals in your yard.

Northern Cardinal Identification

Northern cardinals are almost unmistakable with their holly-berry color overall. These vibrant birds possess stocky, medium-sized bodies. In the winter, they look even brighter against the snow. You might have already seen these birds on holiday cards and various arts.

Characteristics:

Color: Brilliant Red (Male) & Pale Brown (Female)
Size: 7-9 inches
Shape: Round
Wingspan: 10-12 inches
Crest Shape: Triangular

What Do Male Cardinals Look Like?

Male cardinals have brilliant red plumage overall with a black mask and throat. They have stocky, medium-sized bodies, thick red-orange bills, and a prominent, triangular red crest. They are an inch (2 cm) larger than their female counterparts.

In Arizona, male northern cardinals are brighter orange-red rather than maroon-red. On the other hand, eastern males are deep red. Besides, some males could be slightly duller. You may also experience yellow male northern cardinals in some states.

What Do Female Cardinals Look Like?

Female cardinals have pale brown, greyish-olive or tan plumage all over the body with warm reddish tinges in the crest, wings, and tail feathers. Like males, they have stocky, medium-sized bodies with thick, red-orange bills.

Although the females show a hint of black feather patch around the bills, they lack the black coloration. The females also have raised, triangular crests which resemble a mohawk. They have round eyes and slightly reddish upper legs.

Flight Style

The flight style of northern cardinals is rather slow but direct, repeating some quick wing flaps with a short close-winged pause. These birds usually don’t fly too far at once. During flight, they stay pretty low to the ground. And their broad rounded wings and long tail appear.

Vermilion Cardinal Identification

Vermilion cardinals are distributed all over South America, particularly in tropical and subtropical forests and shrublands of northern Venezuela and northeastern Columbia. That’s why vermilion cardinals are also called Venezuela cardinals.

Characteristics:

Color: Scarlet Red (Male) & Brown (Female)
Size: 5-9 inches
Shape: Round
Wingspan: 9-11 inches
Crest Shape: Triangular

How to Identify Vermilion Cardinals?

Vermilion cardinals are usually an inch smaller than northern cardinals. There are some differences between male and female vermilion cardinals. The males are brilliant scarlet red overall with black chin, hefty grey bills, a spike-like crest that resembles a natural mohawk.

On the other hand, the females are brown, grey-headed with some red accents. Like their males, they have seed-cracking, grey bills, a triangular classic red crest, and reddish tail. Both sexes have similar body shapes.

Desert Cardinal (Pyrrhuloxia) Identification

Desert cardinals, also known as Pyrrhuloxia, are found in Arizona, southeastern Texas, and southern New Mexico. These birds are like the cousins of northern cardinals. You may mistake a female cardinal for a desert cardinal or vice-versa from afar.

Characteristics:

Color: Pale Grey with Red Patches
Size: 8-9 inches
Shape: Round
Wingspan: 10-12 inches
Crest Shape: Triangular

How to Identify Desert Cardinals (Pyrrhuloxia)

Desert cardinals (Pyrrhuloxia) are pale grey overall. These birds come with medium-sized, stout bodies, thick yellow bills, and striking red crests. They mainly feature lovely burnt-red on wings, faces, tails, and bellies. The males are more reddish than females.

On the contrary, the females are grey or greyish-brown. Their red accents are slightly more muted. Juvenile desert cardinals look like their females. You may mistake a desert cardinal for a female northern cardinal or vice-versa from afar, but desert cardinals have yellow bills.

Red-Crested Cardinal Identification

Red-crested cardinals, also known as Brazilian cardinals, belong to the Tanager family. They’re mostly found in South America, particularly Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay. They have already been introduced in Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

Characteristics:

Color: White and Grey
Size: 5-9 inches
Shape: Somewhat Tall
Wingspan: 9-11 inches
Crest Shape: Triangular

How to Identify Red-Crested Cardinals?

Red-crested cardinals, both males and females, are white throughout the breasts and grey on the back. Male red-crested cardinals are quite similar to their females. However, the females come with light plumage overall.

In addition, both males and females have striking red on the heads, which gives them the name, red-crested cardinals. Like other cardinals, these species have thick, cone-shaped bills. But, the color of their bills is grey.

Final Words

Now that you know what cardinals actually look like, you can identify them whenever you see them in the future. You’ll also be able to distinguish between males and females of each species. FIY, male cardinals are more beautiful than the females.

However, we hope you have found the article quite helpful to know about what different cardinal species look like. If you see a cardinal in your yard, take a picture of it. Share the article with others to let them know about the identification of cardinals.

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