Northern Cardinal - Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren
Report

Contributor

Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren Media from this contributor

Date

Location

Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary
St. Charles, Missouri, United States
Media from this location Illustrated Checklist
Map
Map Coordinates: 38.8719313, -90.1843917
Age
Not specified
Sex
Not specified

Media notes

A Non-phaeomelanic Northern Cardinal. The reason we are rating this a 5 star is due to the rarity of this bird, not the greatness of the photo.

Observation details

We found a Non-phaeomelanic Northern Cardinal. (This bird was near the small lake/pond you encounter at the top of the hill before entering Big Muddy off Cora Island Rd. We have some not-so-great photos, but nonetheless, you can tell the bird is lacking phaeomelanin. Sibley has an excellent article with a painting/drawing of this type of bird and other birds with abnormal coloration. This kind of data might be important to scientists. We're attaching three photos I'd like to share. In one photo, I have a normal female and male cardinal beside this one for comparison. We found it fascinating to learn about and wish I could add this bird to eBird as a rare bird for others to learn from - or at least tag this bird as 'abnormal coloration': http://www.sibleyguides.com/2011/08/abnormal-coloration-in-birds-melanin-reduction/

Technical information

Model
NIKON D5300
ISO
250
Focal length
420 mm
Flash
Flash did not fire
f-stop
f/5.6
Shutter speed
1/500 sec
Dimensions
1463 pixels x 981 pixels
Original file size
738.89 KB