This past October, nature enthusiast Dyane Oliva was tending to her garden in Coral Springs, Florida, when she noticed a “little yellow blob” out of the corner of her eye.
According to the Miami New Times, Oliva, who works for Broward County’s Natural Resources Division, initially thought the feathered visitor was an oriole, given his bright plumage. However, upon closer inspection, she realized the bird bore a closer resemblance to a cardinal. But he couldn’t be a cardinal, could he? Cardinals are notoriously bright red, and this bird was a striking yellow.
“[He had] the little facemask that cardinals usually have,” Oliva told New Times. “I’m like, ‘There’s no way this is a cardinal — it’s yellow! It’s as bright as a lemon!’”
Oliva grabbed her phone and began snapping photos and videos of the bird, which she shared with colleagues, posted online and, according to New Times, reported to the Florida Ornithological Society.
Experts verified the unique genetic mutation, which only occurs in about one in one million Northern cardinals.
“Although not unheard of, it is a rare sighting,” Tropical Audubon Society president José Francisco Barros told New Times. “There are only about three seen every year in the country, or in their range, which is mostly Eastern North America. Everyone knows the red cardinal, so the yellow one definitely is impressive and a sight that catches the eye of many people as something different.”
Oliva hopes her sighting encourages community members to keep their eyes open for wild animals and to try their hand at birding, especially as migration season continues in Florida.
“This is definitely the time to get out, to try it,” Oliva said in a video for Broward County’s Natural Resources Division. “You can bird anywhere — your backyard, you can go to parks, you can go to cemeteries, anywhere that there’s trees and that is public ground. You can hang out and just watch the trees for a little while, and you’re almost guaranteed to see something cool.”
