Northern Cardinal - in a UK Backyard! (1 Viewer)

Lancey · Jun 29, 2004

Dear all,
For the past four or more days now a Northern Cardinal has been feeding on and off on seed in a backyard of a house within a mile of the sea in Paignton, Devon ( a county in the SW of England).

Given the enthusiasm UK birders have for rarities, to date, only 16 UK birders have bothered to see it (including myself). Why is this?

Firstly, being a species that is non-migratory, it would have to be ship assisted to reach our shore, which in itself isn't a problem, but secondly, the colour of the plumage is not typical for a male Northern Cardinal (see photos below). So the bird has been labelled a presumed escape and left at that.

Strangely enough, there have been several claims of Northern Cardinals in the UK in the past few years including at least one claim from Ireland. None have remained for more than a day though.

I've got no knowledge of Northern Cardinals or their plumage variations, hence this request for any comments on it that you would like to make. I actually wondered if the bird could be unwell and whether that could cause the plumage to be aberrant. The area at the base of the bill seems a little bare, or maybe this is the remains of a previous meal, but I'm not sure.

Are Cardinals exported for the cage bird trade? Does diet affect the plumage?

Once again, please let me know if you have ever seen a Cardinal looking like this one and if so, was there any obvious reason for it?

Thanks very much for your help,

Lancey ( UK birder)

Beverlybaynes · Jun 29, 2004

Hello, Lancey.

I've seen Cardinals all my life, and this one's plumage seems pretty much right on the money, except for the lack of a mask. There are some variations, but that seems mostly because of leucistic tendencies -- although I've seen that personally only in females. The shade of red on a male's body does vary slightly from bird to bird, but very little! If anything, the ones I've seen vary will tend to be a bit more orange.

I can't explain the lack of a mask, however -- unless he's suffering from feather mites (not uncommon in cardinals) and has actually lost the feathers in the mask area. If that's the case, let's hope he stays around, and you can see the mask re-emerging.

Do take care of him -- Cardinals are Indiana's state bird (and Ohio's, and Virginia's, and several other states as well)!

KC Foggin · Jun 29, 2004

I agree pretty much with what Bev has to say. Except if it is suffering from molt, it would still appear black as their skin underneath, on the head at least, is black. I say this because I have had cardinals at my feeder totally w/o head feathers and it is a pure black head.

Color seems a bit more raspberry than the brilliant red I am accustomed to as well as for the beak.

Bluetail · Jun 29, 2004

The bird is certainly quite a bit paler than the Cardinals I've seen in North America. And the pink on the nape and upper flanks is most unconvincing. I'm sure American birds are uniform red in these areas.

I'm not sure how common they are in captivity these days, but my 1980 edition of the Collins "Cage and Aviary Birds" says that cardinals in general

are superb aviary birds and require much the same care as the buntings, but are stronger and can be aggressive when nesting, which they will do in a surprising assortment of places.

Of the Northern Cardinal (which it actually calls "Virginian Cardinal") it says:

Although not closely related to the true cardinals this "cardinal grosbeak" is a superb aviary songster which requires similar care. It is prolific and is best housed and seen in a spacious, well-planted enclosure.

IanF · Jun 30, 2004

It's hard to credit that birders haven't been to see it unless it has been deemed to be an escapee. Even then if was local to me I'd be inclined to have gone for a look.

pduxon · Jun 30, 2004

Given how many ducks and geese get ticked are dodgy it seems a bit odd doesn't it?

Lancey · Jun 30, 2004

Diet and Colour variation in Cardinals

Dear all,
Thanks very much for your input. I've found an article on avian genetics on the Internet which included the following statement:

Species that possess carotenoid colors will often exhibit variation in color due to changes in the diet. The red of the male Virginia Cardinal(Richmondena cardinalis) fades in the North East United States during the Winter when fruits, berries, greens, insects, and other small animals that are part of the bird's diet become scarce.

Could this explain why one birder's typical Cardinal is another's aberrantly pale Cardinal? I've attached a photo taken from an American website of a male Northern Cardinal. It looks even more washed out than the UK bird to me. But, given the above statement, maybe wherever this was taken - and it certainly doesn't seem to be captive to me- this photo would have been of a typical looking Cardinal?

Has anyone else noticed this colour variation in the USA? What I'm really trying to prove/disprove is this:

Given that a Northern Cardinal cannot reach the UK without either being in captivity or by ship-assistance, is the plumage colour/condition of the UK bird enough to discount it from being potentially ship assisted altogether and confirm it as an escape?

Since the bird in Paignton (still present Wednesday 30th June) has already been widely condemned in the UK as not worth going to see, it is unlikely any meaningful conversation other than 'did you go to see that?' (followed by laughter) will occur. Because of that, I'd welcome all your contributions to this discussion.

Thanks for your help,
Lancey

Edward woodwood · Jun 30, 2004

well i wouldn't go no matter who deemed it to be what! Doesn't look like any i saw in Canada.....expect the colour is due to poor condition, diet, or possibly even breeding?

for the reasons given in above posts fully expect it to be an escape and can see no redeeming features at all. If you're going to waste petrol on this you may as well pop into the zoo on the way and tick off an Eagle Owl or Cassowary!

Michael Frankis · Jun 30, 2004

Hi Lancey,

Two problems, first, lack of carotenoids doesn't explain the lack of the black bib, and secondly, as you mention, it is a winter problem - I wouldn't expect it in high summer, except from a bird which has been feeding on a sub-standard diet, which one outdoors won't be, but a captive one might very well be

Michael

chris j brown · Jun 30, 2004

Perhaps its a first-year bird

Hi to everyone,

I wonder if the bird is a first-year male and that explains the lack of black. What do our American friends think?

Regards
Chris

Michael Frankis said:
Hi Lancey,

Two problems, first, lack of carotenoids doesn't explain the lack of the black bib, and secondly, as you mention, it is a winter problem - I wouldn't expect it in high summer, except from a bird which has been feeding on a sub-standard diet, which one outdoors won't be, but a captive one might very well be

Michael

IanF · Jun 30, 2004

Hi Chris,

On behalf of Admin and the Moderators, I'd like to welcome you to Bird Forum :t:

Squint · Jun 30, 2004

I think the young males still will have black. I see some around here that still beg from older cardinals. They look exactly the same as the older males, just smaller.

I have two cardinals right now that are ~5 days old. The tree trimmers decided to trim their tree the day they were hatching.

I've seen a lot of cardinals in person and in pictures and I don't think the UK bird is a cardinal.

chris j brown said:
Hi to everyone,

I wonder if the bird is a first-year male and that explains the lack of black. What do our American friends think?

Regards
Chris

gthang · Jun 30, 2004

hmm, interesting.

The last time I saw a Northern Cardinal, about a couple of weeks ago, it was bright red, as if it were trying to find the nearest bathroom (lol!). Seriously, the bird in the first picture is indeed a Northern Cardinal, although I'm not really sure about the lack of a black mask. One possibility: That England doesn't have the particular food that "creates" the mask. The UK and US have very different climates (or so I'm told), and this creates the problem of lack of the bird's native diet on the accidental lands. Surely both of our countries have these foods in record numbers, but one country could have a vastly lower number of berries-to-insects ratio than the other. This same country (with the lower berry::bug ratio) could have a higher fruits-to-insects ratio than the other country (with the higher berry::bug ratio). differences like these could account for the difference in the plumage (even more so in the mask!)

streatham · Jul 1, 2004

Hmm - probably not offering much useful but as someone birding in the US I'd say the lack of black mask is pretty unusual - it doesn't look like a young bird to me as they tend to have a dark bill and a greenish/brown overall tinge with red deveoping on the wings, tail and the crest first as I remember. I have seen very bald headed and faced cardinals (some sort of mite as I recall) but the loss of it's mask that way seems unlikely. A bit of a mystery but to me it doesn't seem like any wild cardinal i've seen in summer/winter or juvenile plumage.

Luke

KC Foggin · Jul 1, 2004

Hi Lancey. If you check out the card in my gallery, you will see the vivid color I am used to seeing. Unfortunately, it has been affected by mites but as you can see the black bib is still there and the face is actually black under the feathers. Even the beak coloring in your photos doesn't ring true although it could be the lighting and the angle in which the photos were taken.

http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/25684/sort/1/cat/500/page/1

Lancey · Jul 1, 2004

No Sign Today

Dear all,
I've enjoyed reading your posts about the Cardinal which hasn't been seen so far today apparently. There were several cats prowling about when I was there and this fate may well have befallen a Northern Oriole which wintered in a garden in Oxford in 2003/2004. For that bird, several hundred birders descended upon the garden in question with an array of stepladders, crates and boxes with a view to seeing over the tall brick wall surrounding the garden in question. It was worth it just to see the innovation on display. Even better when the bird perched in trees viewable from the pavement.

I certainly know more now than the first pager message about the Cardinal which said 'pale pink colour indicative of escape'. It is all too easy to follow the crowd and take everything one reads as true without finding out the facts for oneself. My personal philosophy is to see the birds that interest me and to remain open-minded. I'm happy for others to see what they want and wouldn't condemn anyone for doing so. Alas, not everyone shares my 'live and let live' view but that's up to them - life's too short.

However, should a crimson Northern Cardinal appear at a docks in the UK I would imagine I'd not be alone in seeing it!

Thanks again,
Lancey

mountain man · Jul 1, 2004

Lancey said:
I certainly know more now than the first pager message about the Cardinal which said 'pale pink colour indicative of escape'. Lancey

Hi Lancey,

Was it worded exactly like that? I didn't read that on my pager!

I agree totally with your open minded approach (I went to see the Cinnamon Teal on Lewis), however this bird is somewhat different to your example of the Cornwall Varied Thrush. That bird was known to occur in a "grey" morph in the wild (albeit very rarely), however as far as anyone can ascertain, this Cardinal is in a totally unknown plumage morph for a wild bird. I understand some Devon birders are currently corresponding with Americans to see if this pink morph is ever known in the wild.

Aberrant "forced" colours are common amongst captive birds that are fed supplements - take very pink Flamingos for example.

It is a definite candidate for vagrancy, but this one doesn't make the grade...

...even for me (and I'll tick anything!)

Tom.

Bluetail · Jul 1, 2004

tom mckinney said:
Was it worded exactly like that? I didn't read that on my pager!

RBA initially broadcast it as:

Devon presumed escape Northern Cardinal Paignton [...] for c.4th day (abnormal plumage colour).

Northern Cardinal - in a UK Backyard! (1 Viewer)

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