Texan Pyrrhuloxia

Cardinalis sinuatus

The Pyrrhuloxia is sometimes called the “Desert Cardinal”. It ranges over the American Southwest and Northern Mexico. The habitat it seeks is often rugged desert scrub and mesquite thickets. These birds are fiercely territorial when nesting, but wander in groups once the breeding season is over. Their population has been in a slow decline since the mid-sixties, dropping 1.5% per year until in 2014 it fell to 53% of its former numbers.

Science recognises three subspecies of Pyrrhuloxia. In Arizona and western Mexico lives C. s. fulvescens. In Mexico’s Baja California is found C. s. peninsulae, and in southern Texas and eastern Mexico is C. s. sinuatus. This gallery is limited to those I found in Texas. To see the differences between the Texan birds and those in Arizona, click <HERE>.