Bright Yellow Northern Cardinals

Northern Cardinals are known for their iconic red feathers, yet that scarlet hue is actually derived from yellow pigments in their food. Most cardinals’ bodies transform those yellow pigments into their signature shade of red, but some lack this ability — resulting in a bright yellow bird. House Finches, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, and other notably red species can also develop an unexpectedly golden complexion. So keep an eye out for all the shades of variation in well-known birds.

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Bright Yellow Northern Cardinals
Written by Conor Gearin

This is BirdNote.

[Northern Cardinal song, ML 130905, 0:19-0:22]

Northern Cardinals are known for their iconic red feathers. Males are bright scarlet, and females sport red wing and crest feathers. So if you saw a Northern Cardinal that was lemon-yellow, you might think it was a different species entirely.

In fact, these are Northern Cardinals, but with a genetic mutation. All cardinals ingest yellow pigments in their food. Most cardinals’ bodies change them into red pigments, giving their feathers their signature shade. But just a few cardinals lack this ability — resulting in a bright yellow bird.

[Northern Cardinal song, ML 130905, 2:24-2:27]

Unexpectedly yellow birds occur in other species, too, from House Finches that look like they’ve been dipped in egg yolk, to Red-bellied Woodpeckers with golden-hued head feathers. The condition is called xanthochromism.

[Red-bellied Woodpecker call, ML 105714, 0:40-0:42]

Xanthochromism and other color abnormalities are rare — just a handful in every few million bird sightings. And the causes for these conditions vary. For House Finches, diet alone is probably enough to turn them yellow.

[House Finch song, ML 56843, 0:36-0:39]

Field guides show only a few illustrations for a single species. But part of the fun is finding all the shades of variation in well-known birds.

For BirdNote, I’m Ariana Remmel.

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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Northern Cardinal ML130905 recorded by Gerrit Vyn, Red-bellied Woodpecker ML105714 Geoffrey A. Keller, House Finch ML56843 recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2024 BirdNote November 2024
Narrator: Ariana Remmel

ID# plumage-07-2024-11-15 plumage-07

Reference:
https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/museum-blog/gold-rush-yellow-cardinal-sighting/
https://www.audubon.org/news/why-northern-cardinal-yellow
https://feederwatch.org/learn/unusual-birds/