One of a Kind Or Maybe Not …
When I first saw my bright orange Cardinal, I was sure I had seen something absolutely unique. Cardinals are red. That’s their thing. Their redness is their thing. Then I discovered that other clusters of orange cardinals have been found, a bunch down in North Carolina. Now they are tracking them to see if this is change is an actual genetic change. I can tell them it is and it’s inherited. These orange Cardinals have had at least two sets of babies. One set of them are almost grey with shafts of orange in their tails and huge orange beaks. The next set is orange, but has a variety of other colors mixed in. This photo picked up the variety of colors very well. But I’m going to add a few other pictures so you can see the differences.
Some of these differences may be because these birds all have the same father. Cardinals are very possessive. They like to collect lady Cardinals and will fight any other male who flies into their territory. I suspect that most Cardinals are probably inbred, given the possessiveness of the males.
There may have been three nestings this season. It’s hard to tell. I think the mother of the most recent fledglings was part of the first batch of baby orange Cardinals. But we definitely have a cluster!
They’re beautiful! It’s really amazing to see them.
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Fascinating! How wonderful to discover these beauties first-hand, Marilyn!
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I think — so far — it’s only the second batch of them in the country. It’s kind of exciting.
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this is such interesting and beautiful photos…
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They are very interesting — and if not unique, very rare — birds.
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This is really interesting, Marilyn. I love your pictures.
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Thank you. I’m fascinated with my birds and all the other wildlife.
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I can see that. I enjoy your bird and wildlife posts.
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They are getting more interesting since I have this very rare flock of Cardinals. This morning there were three generations of them on the feeder — each slightly different incoloring. I feel like I’m doing research. I should start keeping records with the pictures. Try to match the notes with the pictures. It’s interesting watching a new species of something coming of age. I was once told I’d make a good researcher. Maybe I would have, but it sounded kind of dull. But this is really interesting.
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I also find research interesting, Marilyn, but only if its a topic I like. I enjoy your bird posts very much.
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It’s kind of intriguing…the rise of new branch in the Cardinal family?
Leslie
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That is what Cornell Ornithological Department is trying to figure out. I don’t know how long it will take them to figure it out.
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Fascinating!! Thanks for sharing those wonderful photos! ❤
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The orange Cardinals have taken over, probably because the big orange male is dominant in the area.
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Such a cuteness overload!
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The babies are all growing up and getting fat now. The boys will have to move on — only one male per parcel. But they really are cute — and so interesting to look at!
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I love that one of the big fledgling.
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He’s probably going to be a male. He’s almost as big as his mother. And he’s still a baby — or was at the beginning of this month.
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