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Female Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

Northern Cardinals are year-round residents in parts of Arizona, especially in desert riparian areas, mesquite thickets, and backyards with feeders (like the one in your photo). Wickenburg and surrounding areas in central Arizona fall within their range, though they’re more localized in the Southwest compared to the eastern U.S.

They are sometimes confused with the Pyrrhuloxia (a close relative sometimes called the “desert cardinal”), which is rarer in Arizona. You can tell them apart because female Northern Cardinals have a thicker, more reddish-orange bill and more blackish facial markings, while Pyrrhuloxias tend to have more gray tones and a different bill shape.

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• Image (cropped) Northern Cardinal Female on Seed Feeder
• Camera: Canon EOS R10
• Program Mode: Normal Program, 1/400sec, ISO 250, F 7.1
• Lens: RF-S55-210mm F5-7.1 IS STM @210mm

Image: Copyright(C) 2026, Click to view enlarged.

We get a lot of these Curve-Billed Thrashers in and around the yard. Today, this bird found a peanut that I threw out for whomever wanted it. The bird took it after this photo and delivered it to wherever. Love the wildlife here.

The curve-billed thrasher (Toxostoma curvirostre) is a medium-sized desert bird common in the Sonoran and other southwestern deserts, including around towns like Wickenburg and Phoenix. It’s mostly gray-brown with a long down-curved black bill and bright yellow-orange eyes, and has faint round spots on its underparts. They forage on the ground, flipping leaf litter and digging with their bills for insects, fruit, and seeds. Their distinctive call is a loud, whistled “whit-wheet” that’s often heard in desert brush and suburban yards. These thrashers readily use cholla and other native cacti for nesting and adapt well to human-modified landscapes with desert vegetation.

Click on the image to enlarge.

During my morning walkabout, I spotted this cardinal perched in a creosote bush in the backyard. He sat there until I approached with an almond, which I tossed in his direction. I usually carry a few nuts to feed to the squirrels, so when I tossed the nut, to my surprise, the cardinal jumped out of the bush and scooped it up. He took it under the bush to peck at it or something.

The image is cropped down from the original and shows good detail. I took the photo from a distance of about 30 feet using my every day lens which has a maximum 250mm focal length telephoto capability. Camera details:

• Camera: Canon EOS Rebel SL3
• Time: 2026:01:27 09:03:45
• Copyright (c): BOB ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
• Shutter: 1/400 sec
• Aperture: F7.1
• ISO: 125
• Focal Length: 250mm
• Lens: Canon EF-S55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM

You may click on the image to enlarge in the image viewer.