Yellow Cardinal

Gubernatrix cristata

Male and female yellow cardinals have differently coloured plumage. Whilst males are predominantly green and yellow in colour, females are largely grey. Both sexes have a dark crest on their heads.

Red List

Endangered

Breeding programme

Yellow cardinals are finch-like songbirds that build bowl- or ball-shaped nests and are found throughout the American continent. The yellow cardinal is a particularly striking member of this family of birds.

The yellow cardinal used to have wide distribution across large parts of Argentina and Uruguay, with a few records from Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) as a non-breeding visitor.

The capture of this species for the pet bird trade, combined with the loss of its habitat, is thought to have led to a rapid decline in its population. The remaining populations are now small and highly fragmented.