No, this is not a cardinal. As it happens, I spent a couple of winters as a park naturalist in a desert
park and that's where I first learned what they are. I spent more time comparing pyrrhuloxia with waxwings
than the cardinals, but the cardinals, even females, are more rosy than these birds.
I came across a dead waxwing in a neighbor's yard and took it home to identify it--they're very distinct.
Up close, waxwings have some very colorful feathers on the end of their wings and tail. Pyrrhuloxia also
considerably smaller than waxwings. The bird above may be a female. I'm not sure if they're resident all
year, but we have a resident flock of pyrrhuloxia on the campus at UT Arlington. I've confirmed this with a
few other campus folks who pay attention to the birds there, just to be sure.
The pyrrhuloxia around here aren't as colorful as the desert ones I've seen.
Here's one of my cardinals, taken on the same day: