Wayne Rooney collected his first red card of his career in a tightly fought Premiership game as Everton failed to win on Boxing Day for the fourth successive season.
Rooney had no complaints as his two-footed tackle on Birmingham skipper Steve Vickers was blatant and took place in front of referee David Elleray.
As a result both teams finished with ten men as Vickers had to be assisted off the field.
Birmingham, however, salvaged another valuable home point in their battle for Premiership survival.
It was a well-earned point against an indifferent Everton side which could not be inspired by the second-half introduction of their young star, Rooney, who was on the field for only 14 minutes.
Another important feature of Birmingham's performance was that the club with the worst disciplinary record collected only one booking.
Everton, who had been looking to improve their league position, should have made an early impact but Kevin Campbell wasted a glorious first minute opportunity.
Gary Naysmith's left-wing cross found the unmarked Campbell but Everton's striker blasted his shot well over the bar.
It was the only incident of note in the opening 25 minutes with neither side capable of dominating the game.
Fourth in the table Everton rarely displayed the kind of form which has taken them into such a high position and it was not until the closing stages of the first period that the game came alive.
Birmingham, who gave American international Jovan Kirovski his home debut, struggled to lift their game against an Everton side which was hardworking more than outstanding.
As a result the game developed into a battle of each team attempting to wear down each other.
The game cried out for some inspiration and the only real bright note for Birmingham in the disappointing early stages was the successful return of Michael Johnson following a recent knee injury.
He appeared to relish his first Premiership game in Birmingham's colours and certainly made a big contribution to a solid defensive performance from the home side.
But Johnson had to survive a particularly bad tackle by Lee Carsley who earned the first booking of the game from Ellerary.
Everton then came to life in the 43rd minute when Tomasz Radzinski beat the offside trap on the right and beat Nico Vaesen with a shot which was deflected into the net by Birmingham's keeper.
A minute previously Birmingham had sent on Australian Stan Lazaridis and he responded with an accurate cross in the 44th minute from the left which found the unmarked Kirovski heading past Richard Wright to record a home debut goal.
Kirovski, however, made way for his former Crystal Palace colleague, Clinton Morrison. But the drama came late in the game when Rooney, making a run on goal, got himself involved in making a late, reckless tackle to earn himself a red card.