Recently I received a call from my daughter. She was excited because her new feeder cam recorded the appearance of a partially white female cardinal. Ornithologists refer to this condition as partial leucism.
White cardinals can be partially either partially or totally white (true albino). Cardinals that display “white” are very rare. The odds of seeing a cardinal that displays any white feathers are 1:30,000. Total albinos are much rarer the those birds that show patches of white. According to Avian Report out of every 100 “white” cardinals seen, 82 are partially white and only three totally white.
Your chances of spotting a yellow northern cardinal are one in a million. Several years ago I was extremely fortunate see one of these birds in a Macon backyard.
I am glad you enjoyed the photo. Shortly after it was posted a fellow sent me a photo of a red-winged blackbird with white wing feathers feeding in his backyard. I agree about birds use of feeders in snowy weather. We recently experienced a rare snowstorm, and the birds used our feeders well immensely.
I love that photo! Thanks for sharing it. It’s amazing how often the feeders have to be refilled during these winter storms.
I am glad you enjoyed the photo. Shortly after it was posted a fellow sent me a photo of a red-winged blackbird with white wing feathers feeding in his backyard. I agree about birds use of feeders in snowy weather. We recently experienced a rare snowstorm, and the birds used our feeders well immensely.