BIRD: A rare yellow cardinal has been spotted in Alabama
A ‘One in a Million’ Yellow Cardinal!
This bird is, in fact, a male northern cardinal with a “one in a million” genetic mutation. By all accounts, it’s almost genetically identical to a normal red cardinal, but the mutation made its red feathers yellow, according to Geoffrey Hill, an expert in all things bird at Auburn University in Alabama.
Ironically, the position of a Bird Curator used to be held by our very own Kathy Romano. She loves birds. LOVES ‘EM!
Anyway, according to this article on NationalGeographic.com, “Songbirds get their color from yellow, orange, and red pigments called carotenoids found in their food, like sweet potatoes and carrots. Although wild songbirds typically eat yellow-pigmented foods, they can transform that color into warm, red feathers. But a rare mutation residing in the genes of the cardinal in question might be blocking that color-changing pathway, diluting the bird’s red pigment to yellow.”
