A Sketchbook of Birds

I was wandering through our local used-book store a few weeks ago and stumbled on a treasure: A Sketchbook of Birds, by Charles Tunnicliffe.

Our library has a couple of books of his measured drawings, which are amazing in their own right, but I prefer these sketches. They're really lively.

All images from Charles Tunnicliffe's A Sketchbook of Birds.





Link to the Charles Tunnicliffe Society.

Fulica americana: American Coot

In honor of Black Friday, a black bird: another Portland bird, the American Coot. (If you like waterfowl, the Rhododendron Garden is the place to go!) Also known as the Mud Hen, because of their round stocky bodies and head-bobbing motions, the coot is clumsy to get into the air, but a capable flier.

Like many other birds, they can also be pretty territorial. Note to self: do not disturb nesting coots.

I made his leg too short, which makes his feet look even more out-of-proportion than they actually are, so sorry for not getting you right, coot. You're much cuter in person...

Doodled from photo from mikebaird's flickr photostream.

Malleagris gallopavo: Wild Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving!

The wild turkey isn't the bird that ends up on most of our tables on Thanksgiving -- that's a domestic turkey -- but the wild ones are the ones we think about when we think about the holiday.

The fun thing is, there are wild turkeys in this area. There's a group of them that lives out in Otis Orchards, where B goes to stay when we're out of town, and occasionally I'll see a few on my morning walks.

That dude's got a lot going on there. I'm sure if I were a female turkey, I'd find him quite sexy.

Doodled from a photo on the flickr photostream of dracobotanicus.

Aphelocoma californica: Western Scrub Jay

Another bird from my Portland trip: the western scrub jay. Portland doesn't have the Cyanocitta cristata Blue Jays (the most common ones... the ones with a top knot). The only jays I've ever seen in PDX are the scrub jays.

"Not to be confused with LL Cool J," says my husband Dana. Jays, magpies, crows and ravens make up the corvid family. They all have similar personalities: fairly intelligent, but noisy, scrappy and generally unrepentant. They're kind of pretty, even if they are butt-heads.

Doodled from a photo at Wikimedia Commons.

Encounter with a Baby Owl

My fabulous and talented brother was walking home from the train when he stumbled across a baby owl. It was just sitting on the sidewalk and didn't seem at all concerned that he was watching it. Just after he decided to watch it for a while to make sure it wasn't hurt, one of his neighbors came by. The neighbor's girlfriend works for a veterinarian, so he gave her a call. And then they called the humane society. And then the Audubon Society. Nobody was available to come out to make sure the owl was OK.

Just as they were giving up hope, a drugged out dude came by and tried to touch the owl, which caused the owl to take flight to the nearest tree.

We figured out that it was probably a Northern Saw-whet owl. They're tiny, and they freeze when they're being observed. (Remember Jurassic Park, where the scientist tells the kid to stay still so the T. Rex won't see him? Sort of like that... news to the owl: we can see you.)

Doodled from this photo. (I liked the hand as a size reference.)

Thryomanes bewickii: Bewick's Wren

It's amazing what you can see when you're looking. I did a whirlwind visit to Portland last week and saw all sorts of birds I don't normally see. One of them is the Bewick's Wren -- he stopped by my mom's backyard for breakfast provided by Neighbor Bob.

They're little birds with a white eye stripe, and the one visiting my mom's house seemed to be kind of interested in the window... whether he could see us or his reflection is up for debate.

Corvidae Wine Company

Birds are everywhere, both in life and in design. It's a pretty amazing thing to run across stellar examples in everyday life. For instance, I was at the Rocket Market picking up some couscous, and as I was waiting in line to check out I saw some amazing wine labels from the Corvidae Wine Company:




The Corvidae label belongs to the Northwest winemaker Owen Roe (company named after an Irishman), and was inspired by the crows that frequent the winemaker's vineyards in Yakima, WA.

Label images from Avalonwine.com.

Taking a short break...

Athenian Owl Inspiration

This is the logo for Gesine Confectionary and Gourmet Market in Montpelier, Vermont. (Actually, it closed last Christmas, but only because the owner, Gesine Bullock-Prado, has moved on to bigger and better things.) Ms. Bullock-Prado wrote a terrific memoir called Confections of a Closet Master Baker: One Woman's Sweet Journey from Unhappy Hollywood Executive to Contented Country Baker.

I loved the book, and the recipe for sticky buns...

Her husband is a graphic artist who designed her logo, which, as with most design-y things featuring birds, I adore.

It looked really familiar to me, but I couldn't place it, until I was thumbing through Eyewitness: Eagle & Birds of Prey and saw something similar to this:



(Image of an Athenian Tetradrachm, ca. 480 BC, from The Smithsonian's National Numismatic Collection.)

Athenian owls are wonderful and quite distinctive - an excellent inspiration!

(Sign image from Wikipedia.org.)

Himantopus mexicanus: Black-Necked Stilt

Continuing with the baby birds, this one is a black-necked stilt. All legs and fluff.

Doodled from this pic.

Phoenicopterus ruber: Greater Flamingo

A couple of nights ago, one of Letterman's guests was Jack Hanna and he brought some baby birds for Dave to feed. The bird: a flamingo.

Baby birds aren't all that handsome, but they have a distinctive look about them. It's almost cute, if you're used to it.

Doodled from The Internet Bird Collection.

More B

More sketches of Bernini, a mover and a shaker.

Funny Cornell story: I'm reading along in the first chapter and the book is explaining that perching birds have tendons that lock when the bird sits back on its heels (that's what keeps them from falling out of trees when they sleep). The tendons release when the bird stretches its legs.

So the book says:

"If you have a live bird or a freshly killed specimen, slowly extend its hind limb to full length, then flex it close to the body, while watching the movement of the toes. You will observe that when you extend the limb the toes open, and when you flex it, the toes close into a position for grasping." ~ Cornell Lab of Ornithology Handbook of Bird Biology, pg. 1-15.

OK, if you've ever met B, you'd know that she'll bite if you spend too much time on her feet. She loves to be studied when it comes to feathers because it's like preening. Touching her feet? Just like a pedicure... and she can't stand getting her toenails cut.

Upopa epops: Hoopoe

Found in Europe and Asia, this funny bird has a funky crest. I read somewhere that it only displays its crest when it's landing, but I don't know if that was an accurate account.

Wild.

Carduelis tristis: American Goldfinch

These guys are our neighbors. In the summer they like to hang out in the plum trees next door; this time of year they move over to our pine tree and take advantage of the finch socks.

The American goldfinch is the state bird of Washington. They're everywhere, but it's still a pleasant surprise to see a flash of yellow in the yard.

Doodled from an image at sdakotabirds.com.

Spokane Bird Logos

This is the logo for Lone Canary Winery here in Spokane. (For the record, I'm a huge fan of Lone Canary wines, both reds and whites.) It was designed by a local firm, Anderson Mraz Design, and in my humble opinion, it's a stellar design.

The Anderson Mraz Web site says that the logo is a "stylized American goldfinch -- Washington's state bird." So how does it fit the "Lone Canary" brand?

The American goldfinch has a nickname, American canary, because of the "sing-songiness" of his calls. Clever, no?

Here's another local logo, for a delightful store named Atticus (I'd gladly give credit if I knew who designed it!):


It's owned by the same people who own a more eclectic shop two doors down from Atticus named Boo Radley's, and as you can see, the card has a bird on it.

Knowing of the owner's fondness for To Kill a Mockingbird, and seeing that the signage for the store has a bird on it, my first impulse is to think, "how clever is that? It's Atticus Finch!"

Except that the bird isn't a finch. Finches eat seeds, and that bird's beak is too long for a seed eater (unless it's some kind of Hawaiian honeycreeper...).

It took me a while, and some prompting from D, to figure out that this bird must be a mockingbird.


Duh. Now it makes sense.

Mockingbird photo from Wikipedia.

Passer domesticus: House Sparrow

Otherwise known as a murderous, evil bastard, or the hydrogen molecule of birds.

One of my favorite birding blogs is written by Birdchick. This week, Birdchick's husband, "Non-birding Bill" is writing a series for non birders, "NBB's Guide to that Bird you saw." It's informative and funny.

Check it out.

Doodled from an image at Wikimedia Commons.

Podargus strigoides: Tawny Frogmouth

This may be my new favorite bird: the Tawny Frogmouth. They're from Australia, and if the photos from Flikr are any indication, they don't really have a problem with people. Apparently it's not unheard of for one to come into the yard and land on somebody's head... that (and cockatoos) make fleeing to Australia seem like a grand idea.

They're pretty large, at 13 - 21 inches, and they can weigh almost a pound. Another big-headed bird, they have a huge gape for eating insects, fish and small mammals.

They look a little bit like owls, but they're not. Their feet are smaller and weaker, their beaks are are broader and their hunting style is more passive.

Alcedo cristata: Malachite Kingfisher

Another cute bird with a crest: the Malachite Kingfisher. Kingfishers are fun, with their big beaks and stubby tails.

I'm constantly surprised by the variation in bird forms, their bodies, beaks, feet and tails.

Doodled from thundafunda.com.

Fratercula arctica: Atlantic Puffin

Some very sketchy doodles of the Atlantic Puffin, a clown-like, very cute bird.

As you can see, some of my sketchy doodles work out better than others... little dude in the top right corner isn't working out at all... such is life.

Indian Runner Duck

If I were going to keep ducks, these would be the ducks I would keep. From what I've read about them, they're quieter than other ducks and they lay lots and lots of eggs. Their legs are situated far back on their bodies, so they walk (run, actually) almost completely upright.

Cracks. Me. Up.

Doodled from Koi Craze at Welch Farms. His neck is a little short and his head is a little bit too big, but the posture looks about right.