An extremely rare yellow cardinal has been first witnessed by Alabaster resident Charlie Stephenson in her backyard. She has seen her in late January and later posted it on facebook. For a decade, She is in birding. However, it takes some time for her to realize what she has witnessed.
Stephenson told AL.com “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.” Charlie Stephenson also added “Every time I watch the bird feeder, I can see him,” she said. “The cardinals in my backyard typically come in the morning and again in the evening and I can only bird-watch on weekends until the time changes, but on weekends, I’ll sit there and watch for him.utation colors can vary from red or yellow.
According to Auburn University researcher Geoffrey E. Hill, the cardinal is rare because of a special genetic mutation. They also stated that cardinal in the photos is an adult male. Also, It belongs to the same species of a common red cardinal, However, due to genetic mutation colors can vary from red to yellow. Geoffrey Hill, a bird curator at Auburn University in Alabama.
After Stephenson posted the photo, She called her professional photographer friend Jeremy Black to come to her backyard and photograph the bird. Black said, “At the time, I had no idea one even existed,” Black says. “I kind of thought it was Photoshopped for a second.” It takes almost 5 hours for black to wait in the backyard of Charlie Stephenson to get the real-time view of yellow cardinal.
This morning I had the opportunity to photograph this rare cardinal in Alabaster, AL. This yellow cardinal displays a rare mutation that blocks the production of red pigment.@WVTM13 @WBRCnews @abc3340 @spann @aldotcom @ALWildlifeCtr @InstagramBham @BhamAudubon @audubonsociety pic.twitter.com/hihaUwZvFK
— Jeremy Black (@JeremyBlack13) February 18, 2018
Black could only take two or three shots until squirrel startled the bird and it flew away.Now, Jeremy Black visiting the backyard of Stephenson on daily basis to get some more perfect shots of the yellow cardinal bird. He said, “I’m trying to get a unique photograph and that is the yellow cardinal next to a traditional North American red cardinal,” Black said. “My current goal is to try and visit her backyard or neighbourhood as frequently as possible and see if I can get that shot with both birds together.”
You can watch: Rare yellow cardinal spotted in Alabama
