When an extremely rare yellow northern cardinal showed up in his backyard, a Florida bird lover reached for his camera and started filming. Three months, and over 500 hours of filming, later, a special relationship with the bird had formed.
Jeremiah Vreeland, 39, from Port Saint Lucie, told The Epoch Times that he and his neighbor first noticed the yellow cardinal in early April of 2021.
“I had seen him briefly, two to three times, chasing red cardinals around our back yard,” Vreeland said. “At the time, I did not know how rare yellow cardinals were. Towards the end of April, my neighbor asked if I had seen the cardinal and explained that they are very rare.”
Elsewhere in Port Saint Lucie, someone had filmed a yellow cardinal during 2019 and named him Sunny. Convinced his cardinal must be the same bird, Vreeland kept the name.
He fed Sunny a combination of wild bird mix, black sunflower seeds, nuts, and berries to make him feel welcome in his yard. In return, Sunny provided Vreeland with hours of riveting footage.
“From April 29 to Aug. 5, I spent every day trying to film Sunny,” he said. “The time spent filming was filled with special moments that will never leave me.
“If he entered my yard, I would usually see him coming; if I didn’t see him, I would listen for cardinal songs, maybe indicating he was in the area.”
Sunny would sometimes visit multiple times a day, sometimes not at all.
Vreeland recalled that, sometimes, the little bird would just pop in for a snack at the feeder, while other times, he would spend up to an hour doing various things: chasing the other male cardinals, ground-feeding with his mate, or just hanging out in the trees.
It is believed that only 10 to 12 yellow northern cardinals are alive at any given time in North America, he added.
Vreeland knew little about cardinals before filming Sunny, but his feathered friend inspired him to learn from articles and videos between filming. As he observed the best lessons of all, in his own backyard, he found that dominant Sunny seemed to love chasing one male target in particular. He named him Red.
He also chose a name for Sunny’s mate, Ada, and believes the pair—cardinals are typically monogamous—had at least two offspring.
Vreeland, who maintains he is “borderline novice” at photography, filmed his original footage of Sunny in 1080p on two iPhones, a GoPro, and a Canon HD camcorder. He used Premiere Pro to edit videos, and Lightroom for stills, claiming all photos came from video screenshots.
Sunny has since disappeared as he has not been seen by Vreeland since Aug. 5, 2021. But while the rare yellow cardinal may be gone, he is certainly not forgotten.
The photographer said, “His two believed offspring still visit our yard.”
