This might be helpful. A similar bird was observed in Lynchburg in 1998.
"There is no evidence to explain the orange color in the
feathers of the orange variant cardinal. Speculation as to what caused the
Northern Cardinal to have 'orange' feathers could include dietary deficiency, an
enzyme deficiency, or even an aberrant change in the structure of the feather
pigment."
http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/nabb/v025n01/p0001-p0003.pdf
b-
Date: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 20:56:46 -0500
From: SANFAY@xxxxxxxxxxx
To: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [Va-bird] Orange Cardinal
Where are you located?
Sandy
Falls Church, VA
On 1/26/2014 6:15 PM, Andrew Rapp wrote:
Hey everyone,
Recently I have had a orange colored cardinal it is definitely orange
because another male flew down beside him and it was much darker and it was
red. What would cause this?
Side note: (not about birds) I have 5 flying squirrels feeding at my
feeders right now. :)
Andrew Rapp- aka Parula
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