No, the most likely explanation is that it is a young male in relatively poor condition. The captive experiments showed that poor diet makes for more yellow and less red birds. Those ideas apply to wild birds, as well. Yellowish House Finches are relatively common. I usually see a few each year.
But, since you brought up the topic. I had occasion the other day to see the same phenomenon (I am guessing) in PURPLE Finches, which I don't think I've ever seen before. Photos of a yellowish male coming to my feeder can be seen at https://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S35976663. Best, Kevin Kevin J. McGowan Project Manager Distance Learning in Bird Biology Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Road Ithaca, NY 14850 k...@cornell.edu 607-254-2452 ________________________________ From: bounce-121504884-3493...@list.cornell.edu <bounce-121504884-3493...@list.cornell.edu> on behalf of W. Larry Hymes <w...@cornell.edu> Sent: Friday, May 5, 2017 4:53 PM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Further info Yellow House Finch Upon reading the literature, it appears that captive house finches can have yellow coloration because of the lack of carotenoids in their diet. Would the most likely explanation for this particular bird be that it escaped from captivity? Larry -- ================================ W. Larry Hymes 120 Vine Street, Ithaca, NY 14850 (H) 607-277-0759, w...@cornell.edu ================================ -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm Cayugabirds-L Subscribe, Configuration, and Leave Instructions<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> www.northeastbirding.com Cayugabirds-L – Subscribe, Configuration and Leave . Cayugabirds-L is an email list (the List) focused on the discussion of birds and birding in the Finger Lakes ... ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html cayugabirds-l - The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html> www.mail-archive.com cayugabirds-l Thread; Date ; Earlier messages; Messages by Date 2017/04/25 [cayugabirds-l] the colors of spring Melanie Uhlir 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ [http://ebird.org/content/ebird/wp-content/uploads/sites/55/Birding-at-the-Bridge_front.jpg]<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/> ebird.org Please join us in congratulating Chris McCreedy of Tucson, Arizona, winner of the March 2017 eBird Challenge, sponsored by Carl Zeiss Sports Optics. -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
