Hunt and Peck

Extremely rare Cardinal spotted in Florida - A Hunt and Peck

Your daily dose of Cardinals news.

By lil_scooter93 Oct 16, 2019, 1:00pm EDT

If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

On Saturday morning something rare and magnificent happened in the yard of Port of St. Lucie resident Tracy Workman. Almost two weeks earlier the photography teacher looked outside to see what she thought to be a yellow cardinal. The bird reappeared Saturday morning and after a brief pursuit, she was able to capture a photo per Max Chesnes of Treasure Coast Newspapers.

USA Today spoke with Geoffrey Hill, a professor at Auburn University and bird expert. He said “the bird in Workman’s photographs is an adult male northern cardinal with a rare genetic mutation found in the species.” The mutation is apparently extremely rare. USA Today also spoke with Thomas Webber, a collection manager of the Division of Ornithology at the Florida Museum in Gainesville, who according them said “the yellow cardinal makes up “well below 1%” of the entire cardinal population.”

Tracy Workman named the bird “Sunny”, which is appropriate and adorable.

'One in a million' yellow cardinal named 'Sunny' spotted in Florida. https://t.co/fYEiIoAeL8 pic.twitter.com/luCA25wTX3
— FOX 10 Phoenix (@FOX10Phoenix) October 15, 2019

In less sunny news, the St. Louis Cardinals were swept by the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night, with the final game ending with a score of 7-4. The long, cold offseason awaits, but eventually the Cardinals will join Sunny in Florida. Until then we have some fun things planned for this winter. Hopefully you all enjoy!

Extremely rare yellow cardinal spotted in Florida — twice | Treasure Coast Newspapers

A 'one in a million' yellow cardinal, dubbed 'Sunny,' seen in Florida | USA Today