The last week in January was VERY unseasonably mild, with temperatures
reaching into the 60s
and even the 70s. On the last day of the month,
spring peepers (tree frogs) were calling, painted
turtles were out of hibernation and up basking on logs in our small ponds,
and chipmunks were
out in force vacuuming up all the bird seed they could reach
(often getting caught in our bird banding Potter traps in the process!)
Dietary and/or physiological deficiencies that
inhibit the deposition of red carotenoid pigments
during feather formation can give rise
to occasional orange plumage variants in species ordinarily
having darker or brighter red
plumage. In addition to orange variant Northern Cardinals like one
banded here recently (top bird in above photos), we have banded more than
a few
"orange-crowned"
Ruby-crowned Kinglets and not-so-Scarlet Tanagers over the years!