One of the 3 cardinals on WAnimals
Birds · Passeriformes · Thraupidae
Yellow Cardinal
Gubernatrix cristata
It faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future. See full glossary
The yellow cardinal is a bird of the espinal thorn scrub of the Southern Cone, with a black and yellow head, an upright crest and a streaked olive-green back. Its powerful, melodious song has made it a target of the illegal cage-bird trade, which is today its main threat alongside the destruction of the native woodland. The wild Argentine population has collapsed and only heavily fragmented populations remain.
Weight
40 g – 50 g
Size
19 cm – 20 cm
Lifespan
10 years
Diet
Herbivore
Feeds mainly on plants.
Activity
Diurnal
Active mainly during the day.
Social structure
In pairs
Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.
Sighting difficulty
Hard
Fun facts
- Its song is the cause of its decline: trapping for the illegal cage-bird trade has emptied whole populations of the Argentine espinal, and seizure operations recover hundreds of birds every year.
- It frequently hybridises with the common diuca finch in areas where pairs of its own species are scarce, a classic symptom of populations on the edge of collapse.
Life cycle & biology
- Skeleton type
- Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)
- Habitat & environment
- Espinal thorn scrub, algarrobo woodland and open scrub of central Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil
- Sexual maturity
- 12 months
- Gestation / incubation
- 14 days of incubation
- Litter / clutch size
- 3 eggs
Sources consulted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_cardinal
Where to watch it
Parques y spots de buceo donde se ha documentado esta especie — se muestran 10 de 11 documentados.
Related species
Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Yellow Cardinal — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.
Double-collared Seedeater
Sporophila caerulescens
Red-crested Cardinal
Paroaria coronata
Chacoan Peccary
Catagonus wagneri
Near ThreatenedPatagonian Mara
Dolichotis patagonum
Southern Screamer
Chauna torquata
Crested Caracara
Caracara plancus
How to help
The yellow cardinal is classified as endangered. Organizations such as UICN, WWF y Wildlife Conservation Society work specifically on its conservation and that of its habitat; looking into their programs is a good starting point if you want to get involved.
It's documented in 8 real protected areas — part of why protecting these places matters for its conservation.
Keep exploring
Based on what we already know about yellow cardinal.
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