As it turns out, a one-in-a-million yellow cardinal had decided to make himself at home at the Currys’ bird feeders in rural Rushville, a quiet farm community 200 miles southwest of Chicago.

Rare yellow cardinal spotted in Alabama. Watch on . In late January, ... Studies have shown that for birds, redder is better: Female birds strongly prefer the brightest red mates.

For the cardinal, the bright red side and the head is male, and the brown side is female. “What’s going on is that the bird has both male and female gonads, and they are both actively ...

Ornithologist Geoffrey Hill, a professor at Auburn University in Alabama, said when a yellow northern cardinal was spotted in that state six years ago, he was asked how rare this anomaly is and he ...