Bird
Bird
Red-capped Cardinal
Paroaria gularis
The Red-capped Cardinal is a striking, boldly patterned songbird of Trinidad's waterside vegetation, its vivid crimson-red head and throat contrasting sharply with a clean black-and-white body, typically seen low over water in riverside thickets and swamp margins.
The Red-capped Cardinal is a striking, boldly patterned songbird of Trinidad's waterside vegetation, its vivid crimson-red head and throat contrasting sharply with a clean black-and-white body, typically seen low over water in riverside thickets and swamp margins.
Identification
A medium-sized songbird around 16 to 17 cm long, with a bright crimson-red crown, nape, and throat, a black back, wings, and tail, and clean white underparts, an unmistakable combination among Trinidad's waterside birds. The bill is stout and conical, typical of the tanager family to which it belongs despite its cardinal-like common name and appearance.
Ecology
The Red-capped Cardinal feeds on seeds, small fruit, and insects, foraging low in dense waterside vegetation, riverbank thickets, and swamp-margin shrubs, rarely venturing far from water. It is usually encountered in pairs or small family groups, moving actively but often staying low and somewhat concealed within tangled vegetation, making brief views of its striking colouring especially rewarding.
Status in T&T
Found along rivers, swamp margins, and other waterside vegetation on Trinidad. It is not threatened. It is protected under the Conservation of Wildlife Act and is not a game species.
Threats
- Riverside and swamp-margin vegetation clearance
