The yellow cardinal is one of the most endangered birds. As a result, whether you’re a regular Joe or a serious bird watcher, seeing one never ceases to astound you. Charlie Stephenson, a bird enthusiast from Alabama, was one of the lucky ones to glimpse one, and she was able to get a video of it.

“Well, there’s a bird I’ve never seen before,” the Alabama bird lover says in an interview. Then I saw it was a cardinal and a yellow one.”

Stephenson says it was easy for her to notice and distinguish the unique yellow bird since she is often at her bird feeder. When Charlie’s friend and wildlife and wedding photographer Jerry Black saw the yellow cardinal’s post, he asked Stephenson if he could come by and try to picture the uncommon bird.

Jerry was able to take some fantastic images of this elusive bird after waiting 5 hours for it to return to the feeder.

Normally bright red birds, seeing a yellow cardinal is a “once in a million” occurrence due to an ultra-rare genetic abnormality.

“I’ve been bird-watching in the range of cardinals for 40 years, and I’ve never seen a yellow bird in the wild,” said Geoffrey Hill, a biology professor at Auburn University. There are two or three yellow cardinals at backyard feeding stations somewhere in the United States or Canada every year.