Yellow Cardinal

Scientific Name: Gubernatrix cristata

Origin: Brazil and Argentina

A single bird can be kept quite safely in a mixed collection. However, pairs need to be watched to make sure there is no fighting. Although less colorful than the Red-Crested and Pope Cardinal, the Green Cardinal is often more eager to breed.

Description:

Size: 20 cm (8 in)

COCK:

Body: olive green with black markings. Cheeks and throat: yellow. Crest and throat patch: black. Stomach: greenish-yellow. Beak: grey. Legs: dark grey.

HEN:

Body: grey-green and greyish-white. The cock and hen of this specie are quite dissimilar and may be easily sexed.

Diet: (Seedeater)

Plain canary seed, mixed millets, sunflower seed and hemp form the basic diet. Some live food, fruit tree twigs, grit and cuttlefish bone should be provided for this species.

This hardy species can tolerate low temperatures, but not damp conditions. It is easy to keep in a medium sized aviary with a dry, damp-proof shelter for cold weather.

Breeding:

Pairs construct a nest in a fairly dense hush or shrub. An open-fronted nest box, a basket or a cup-shaped receptacle should be provided to encourage breeding. Plenty of live food should he given including small, smooth caterpillars, woodlice, spiders, fresh ants' eggs, wasp grubs and a few mealworms and maggots.

Three to four eggs form a normal clutch although as many as six are sometimes laid. Chicks fledge after four weeks and are normally independent in a further two weeks. Sprouted seeds and seeding grass heads should be fed to the chicks. Remove the young from their parents as soon as they are seen to be eating well on their own.

Yellow Cardinal Information

• In wild the bird is found in open wood land areas and the prosopis woodland and semi arid regions. The birds also thrive well in savannas and shrubby steppe regions of having grass length of not more than 70 centimeters.
• The breeding season starts during the austral spring and by the time of November the birds form nests and lay eggs. The number of eggs generally does not exceed more than 3 eggs.
• In the recent years the bird has been facing sever threats of extinction. The habitat of the bird is being destroyed due to extraction of timber from the forests. Rapid deforestation, especially the eucalyptus forests for firewood and raw materials of furniture has made the birds homeless. Huge areas of grass lands have also been converted into cattle pastures leading to the destruction of the habitat of this bird specie. Another reason responsible for the decreasing number of this bird is due to the incidence of the hybridism of the bird with the common Diuca-finch.
• The bird specie is listed in the CITES appendix two. Steps are now taken to conserve the bird breed from extinction. The bird has been provided space to live and breed in the various national parks like the Sierra de las Quijadas, Lihue Calel, El Palmar and Chancanн Provincial Reserve Forest. In the country Uruguay a program has been conducted where the birds are captively bred. Another captive breeding program with the aid of bird breed taken away from the poachers is established in Southern Brazil.