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Long-tailed Tit (Aegithalos caudatus)
Final sketch of a scientific illustration. The concluded drawing will be posted in another gallery with another alias. Sorry folks!
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gimme a hummer, bb
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Three color plates from Robert Ridgway’s 1912 book, Color Standards and Color Nomenclature.
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In-progress lichen pigeon!
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External anatomy of a song bird
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Royal Flycatcher at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
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Drawn From Paradise: The Discovery, Art and Natural History of the Birds of Paradise
David Attenborough (Author), Errol Fuller (Author)
256 pages, b/w photos, 200+ colour illustrations, b/w illustrations
Drawn from Paradise is David Attenborough’s journey through the cultural history of the birds of paradise, one of the most exquisite and extravagant, colourful and intriguing families of birds.
From the moment they were introduced to the European mind in the early sixteenth century, their unique beauty was recognised and commemorated in the first name that they were given – birds so beautiful must be birds from paradise.
In this unique exploration of a truly awe-inspiring family of birds which to this day is still shrouded in mystery, David Attenborough and Errol Fuller trace the natural history of these enigmatic birds through their depiction in western works of art throughout the centuries, featuring beautiful illustrations by such luminary artists as Jacques Barraband, William Hart, John Gould, Rubens and Breughel, to name but a few. Experienced ornithologists and general nature and art enthusiasts alike will delight in this journey of discovery of the world’s most beautiful and mysterious birds.
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Canada Goose - Branta canadensis
Can you believe that this incredible nuisance of a bird was once on the verge of extinction - and not in the distant past? Hunting and slaughter by farmers in the late 1800s led to the critical endangerment of the entire Branta canadensis species, until the International Migratory Birds Treaty was passed in 1918.
While the species as a whole began a slow recovery process at that point, several of the subspecies were still on a rapid decline due to habitat loss, and by 1962, both the Aleutian and Giant Canada Goose were believed to be functionally extinct. However, the discovery of a wintering flock of Giant Canada Geese in Rochester, MN, that year, and the discovery of two small Aleutian Canada Geese flocks the next year, kicked off a conservation movement to restore the habitat and flyways for the entire species.
Well, the movement worked, obviously. In less than 40 years, all seven subspecies have been removed from the endangered species list, and the species as a whole is now considered a nuisance bird in many areas.
As they prefer open spaces with water, they’re often present in the same area as humans: around beaches, airports, and golf courses; their toxic droppings (not to mention their big ol’ engine-clogging bodies) have caused many problems over the past decade or so. In fact, they were the cause of the birdstrike that resulted in the “Miracle on the Hudson” a few years back. So far, culling and extermination efforts have only had limited effects on the overall population.
Voegel, aus Asien, Africa, America, und Neuholland in Abbildungen nach der Natur mit Beschreibungen. Carl Wilhelm Hahn, 1818.
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Black-billed Magpie (Pica hudsonia) feather study.
Sizes not to scale.
