'One in a Million' Yellow Cardinal Spotted in Alabama

al.com ^ | Feb 22, 2018

[nickcarraway]

By Dennis Pillion dpillion@al.com An extremely rare cardinal has birders and biologists flocking to Shelby County, Alabama this week, as images of a yellow cardinal have circulated around social media.

Auburn University biology professor Geoffrey Hill said the cardinal in the photos is an adult male in the same species as the common red cardinal, but carries a genetic mutation that causes what would normally be brilliant red feathers to be bright yellow instead.

Alabaster resident Charlie Stephenson first noticed the unusual bird at her backyard feeder in late January and posted about it on Facebook. She said she's been birding for decades but it took her some time to figure out what she was seeing.

"I thought 'well there's a bird I've never seen before'," Stephenson said. "Then I realized it was a cardinal, and it was a yellow cardinal."

[nickcarraway]

[rlmorel]

That is amazing!

[Puppage]

I second that!

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Wonder if the lady redbirds will like him?
 

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Oh no, transcolored birds now!

[beef]

I wonder if they taste any different. :-)

[blueunicorn6]

A yellow bird
With a yellow bill
Landed on
My window sill
A yellow bird
With a yellow bill
He landed on my....window sill.

...................

The moral of
This story be
If you are yellow
Don’t mess with me
The moral of
This story be
If you are yellow don’t.....mess with me

[Jamestown1630]

I wondered that too. But apparently birds see colors we don’t, so they probably don’t respond only to what we might assume that they do:

http://www.futurity.org/birds-see-colors-invisible-to-humans/

[Hieronymus]

I think that, far from being rare, they may be a majority in Rome.

[dfwgator]

Rammer Jammer Yellow....Cardinal?????

[commish]

Remarkable bird, the Alabama Yellow, idn’it, ay? Beautiful plumage!

[KansasGirl]

Wow.

[PGR88]

Its a sign of the apocalypse!

[RckyRaCoCo]

St. Louis...Tweety...Birds????

[Charles Martel]

I’m sure there’s a Pope joke in there somewhere, but I’ll exercise the better part of valor. ;-)

[Uncle Miltie]

At least he's not a yellow-bellied sap sucker:

[gundog]

Pining for the bayous....

[Conan the Librarian]

This is in the South. I am sure it’s just Pine Tree Pollen making it Yellow, along with everything else around here.

Or, it’s a portent of the coming of Hastur, the King in Yellow.

[LibertarianLiz]

BTTT - so I can find it for hubby who loves birds.

[FReepaholic]