An 'Orange Variant' Northern Cardinal

Charles and Melva Hansrote 209 Greenwell Court Lynchburg, VA 24502-3742

ABSTRACT

This is a reporton the mistnet captureand banding portionof Campbell County. The station is opened of a colorvariant of a Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis on a random basis throughout the year during cardinalis)with orange insteadof red feathers. daylight hours. Generally, one to three mist nets are used. The station habitat has been described INTRODUCTION most recentlyin Hansroteand Hansrote(1999).

Mist net captures of birds have been used by us RESULTS since 1986 to studythe suburbanbird population in the Virginia Piedmont physiologicalregion. The In the course of this study, Northern Cardinalsare local suburban bird population was partially among the 50+ bird species captured from within characterizedin 1991. Other events affecting the the local suburban bird population. The graph local bird populationduring this study includeda showsa total of 394 cardinalscaptured during the 1988 Pine Siskin invasion, a 1992 American study, an average of 30.3 cardinal captures per Goldfinchincursion and more recently,in 1998, a year up to the end of 1998. The graph reveals a heavy goldfinchflight. gradual drop, then recovery, in the number of cardinalsbanded. Althougha detailed analysisto METHODS determine the cause behind the drop was not carried out, it is speculated that the reason for The banding station is located in a residential variation in cardinal captures was due to severe suburbwest of Lynchburg,Virginia, in the western habitat changes near the banding location.

Graph 1 Northern Cardinals

50 45 ß •40

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z 20 15 10 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 Years --•-Campbell County, Jan.- Mar.2000 NorthAmerican Bird Bander Page1 A description of a male Northern Cardinal in juvenal (both sexes alike)-above, sepia brown, Farrand, Jr. (1983) states, "[They]are brilliantred wingsdarker suffused with dulldragoh's blood and with an erectliecrest and a red billsurrounded by a brick red with the tail, crest and forehead largely jet-black area that extends down the throat and brick-red. In addition, traces of black on lores and backto the eye." On 8 November1998, a Northern chinwhile below, wood brown, cinnamon tinged on Cardinal with an orange plumage was captured, throat, sides and flanks. In August the cardinal banded [841-86536], and sexed as an after- undergoes a complete molt leading to a scarlet hatching-yearfemale. In retrospect,the 'orange' plumage, veiled with olive-gray edge. This if bird should have been sexed and aged as followed by a first nuptial plumage (no molt only unknown. wear of olive-grayedge). Then adult birdsundergo a complete postnuptialmolt in late summer."No Photographswere taken of the 'orange'plumaged historicalreference to an 'orangeplumage' variant bird held next to a 'normal' red-feathered male Northern Cardinal was found in Bent's (1968) cardinal.When placedside-by-side, the contrastin series for the Smithsonian.Pettingill's ornithologi- color, between the two birds was observable cal textbook (1970) is suggestedfor those who easily.Efforts to locatea literaturereference citing would like a brief elementary presentation on the banding or sightingof an 'orange' Northern colors in bird feathers. The textbook also Cardinalproved unsuccessful. No photographwas discusses the various causes for variation in bird taken of the orange variant and a normal adult feather color. female cardinal. Ehrlichet al. (1988), discussingcolor in birds,used It was suggestedthat Smithe(1975) be consulted the cardinal to illustratea bird containingpigment to include standard color designations for the in its feathers. This feather pigmentabsorbs all the reader as the colorphotographs will not reproduce wavelengthsexcept the onesthat, when they enter here. As a copy of Smithe could not be located our visual system, register as red. There is no immediately, a commercial color chart (Pantone evidenceto explainthe orangecolor in the feathers Textile Color Guides 1984, 1992) used by an of the orange variant cardinal. Speculationas to experienced paint professional who assigned what caused the Northern Cardinal to have colorvalues to the fourphotographs of the 'orange' 'orange' feathers could includedietary deficiency, cardinal. He selected Pantone 145 (14 parts an enzyme deficiency,or even an aberrantchange yellow,2 partsrubine red and ¬ part black). Five in the structureof the feather pigment. other persons selected color swatches that matched the variant's feather color in the An orange-variant bird was observed on 3 photograph.The averagevalue forthe six rankings February and 14, 16 March 1999 at the feeders was Pantone 144 (14 parts yellow and 2 parts located in the station banding area. Three local rubine red). residents reported seeing an orange-colored cardinal at their feeders similiar to the orange- Later, using a copy of Smithe's color guide, ten variant cardinal in our photographs.In 1998, a individuals were asked to select the color swatch similar colored bird was seen at a feeder in Bedford that matchedthe 'orange'cardinal in each of the County, 14.4 km (8.9 miles) in a straight-line four photographs.The average standard color northwesterlydirection from the bandingstation. selected varied between Color 16 (Chrome Orange) and Color 17 (SpectrumOrange.) The One bird was observed at a feeder in Campbell 'normal' red-cardinal was rated as Color 13 County2.6 km (1.6 mile) in a straight-linenorth- (GeraniumPink) and Color 14 (Scarlet). northeasterlydirection from our bandingstation. It was describedby one of the observersas "scruffy" DISCUSSION in appearance.The sightingoccurred around the lastweek in Septemberor the firstweek in October The plumagecolors during the differentstages in 1999. Neithersighting reported a bandon the bird. the life of a Northern Cardinal have been described While both sightingsare interestingobservations, in Bent (1968) as "natal down-a "mouse gray"; there is no way of ascertainingif this was the Page 2 North American Bird Bander Vol. 25 No. 1 banded bird or why an orange variant was Farrand, J., Jr., Ed. 1983. The Audubon Society detected in other nearby areas. master guide to birding,vol 3: Old World warblersto sparrows.Alfred A. Knopf,New The referee of this paper compared the orange York, NY. cardinal photographswith 81 cardinalspecimens with no match. The 'normal' male red cardinal in HansroteC. and M. Hansrote,1999. 1998's heavy the comparisonphotograph was judged by the flightof AmericanGoldfinches in the refereeas a secondyear (SY) male based uponits Virginiapiedmont. N. Amer. Bird Bander color. 24: 34-37.

It is hopedthat the banded 'orange'cardinal will be Pantone Inc. 1984, 1992. Pantone Textile Color recaptured to compare its current plumage color Guide. Carlstadt, NJ. with that in the earlier photograph. It would be interestingto know if other banders have observed Pettingill,O.S. Jr. 1970. Ornithologyin laboratory or banded an 'orange'colored NorthernCardinal. and field. 4th Ed. Burgess,Minneapolis, MN. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS $mithe, F.B., 1975. Naturalist'scolor guide and Our profoundthanks go to each of the followingfor supplement.The AmericanMuseum of their help. Dan Puckette,Jim Cadco, Joan Kincaid, Natural History, New York, NY. Jim Kincaid, Keith Kincaid, Ruthann Miller, Dick Miller, Desi Justis, and Priscilla Ganicott for selecting the $mithe color swatch that best matched the color of the cardinals in the photographs.And again to Dan Puckette (Davis Paint Company,Lynchburg, VA) for the use of the Pantone color guide. Carole Pollock at the Lynchburg College Library and Sweet Briar Collegefor the inter-collegeloan of $mithe's book. Joan and Jim Kincaid and Jim Carico, Ph.D. for sharingtheir sightingof an orangevariant cardinal at their backyardfeeders.

LITERATURE CITED

Bent, A.C. 1968. Life histories of North American cardinals,grosbeaks, buntings, towhees, Finches, sparrows, and allies. (Austin, O.L. Jr., ed.) U.S. Nat/. Mus. Bu//. 237, part 1.

Ehrlich P. R., and D.S. Dobkin,and D. Wheye. 1988. The birder'shandbook: a field guide to the naturalhistory of NorthAmerican birds. Simon & Schuster, Inc. New York, NY.

DelormeMapping. 1995. Virginiaatlas & gazeteer. Freeport, ME.

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