Red-capped Cardinal
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| Paroaria gularis (Linnaeus, 1766) |
The Red-capped Cardinal, Paroaria gularis, is a small bird of the family Emberizidae, which also includes the buntings. It breeds from Trinidad, Colombia and Venezuela south to Bolivia and central Brazil. This species is very common in suitable habitat in its South American range, but is scarce and localised on Trinidad.
This is a bird of mangrove swamps and adjacent open wet areas. It makes a shallow cup nest in a mangrove tree, and lays two or three brown-blotched whitish eggs. It is parasitised by cowbirds.
The adult Red-capped Cardinal is 16.5 cm long and weighs 22 g. It has a crimson head and black upperparts, apart from a white partial collar extending up the neck sides from the white underparts. The throat is black, extending to a point on the upper chest. In immature birds, the black and red parts of the adult plumage are replaced by brown, and the underparts are whitish.
The subspecies P.g. nitrogenis of Trinidad, eastern Colombia and northern Venezuela differs from the nominate P.g. gularis in that it has a black cheek patch and red lower throat.
The Red-capped Cardinal feeds on insects, rice and fruit. It is usually found in pairs or family groups.
The song is a suweet-chu, and the call is a sharp chep call.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Paroaria gularis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Birds of Venezuela by Hilty, ISBN 0-7136-6418-5
- Birds of Trinidad and Tobago by ffrench, ISBN 0-7136-6759-1
[edit] External links
- Red-capped Cardinal videos on the Internet Bird Collection
