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A studio for bird study

May 18, 2013

Red-tailed Hawk- Buteo jamaicensis

by Bryce W. Robinson

Red-tailed Hawk- Buteo jamaicensis. 12x16" prismacolor on bristol

Red-tailed Hawk- Buteo jamaicensis. 12×16″ prismacolor on bristol

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I should say, none of these excellent illustrations are mine. This past fall I had the privilege of teaching ‘Advanced Ornithological Illustration’ at Cornell University. The students spent the semester creating comparative infographics to communicate concepts that they came up with themselves. It was my first time teaching such a course and I learned a great deal from the process! A few of these nine talented students are also on instagram, so you should take a look at some of the other work they’ve done - @korawakka @artist.block @theisaiahescott @seawindseramas @revolutionaryconcepts

I just completed a plate for one of my favorite raptors of the Neotropics - the Ornate Hawk-Eagle (Spizaetus ornatus). The adult, pictured here, is a very distinctive looking bird, so identification is generally straightforward given good looks. These birds frequent healthy forest throughout the Neotropics. They are most easily found by hearing its loud and repetitive whistle vocalizations, and perhaps most often seen soaring low over the canopy. This illustration will appear in a third edition of Zonatropical’s and @cornelluniversitypress guide to the birds of Costa Rica.

St. Andrews Bay on South Georgia is home to somewhere near 600,000 King Penguins (Aptenodytes patagonicus). Wandering through this city of penguins was one of the most incredible wildlife experiences I’ve had in my life. Overall these birds were unconcerned with me as I filmed them, and at times the young of the year would approach me out of curiosity and follow me around as I moved about the colony. Because of this and many other things, out of all my experiences with penguins my time with the Kings was my favorite.

Adelie Penguins are bizarre yet beautiful birds. Although we weren’t able to experience large numbers because of access issues related to sea ice at some of our planned destinations, we did find a handful of pairs intermixed in the colonies at Gerlache Bay. Like other brush tail species (genus Pygoscelis), the Adelie was consumed with the task of transporting rocks and making piles that serve as the platform for their nesting activities. Their preoccupation with this task is such that they seem to have no issue with taking rocks from their neighbors at times. As you might imagine, when noticed this causes quite the drama in the colony. I was able to capture a few clips of the rock thievery, but unfortunately no resulting tense interactions. That’s something that I’ll just have to go back for… @cornellbirds @fieldmuseum

The focus of our expedition aboard the @vinson_of_antarctica was penguin research funded mostly by @fieldmuseum. We targeted five species, the King, Gentoo, Chinstrap, Adelie, and Macaroni Penguins on both the Antarctic Peninsula and at South Georgia. One of my roles was as a representative of @cornellbirds, to help with the sample collection for diet research led by my friend @gemclucas, a postdoctoral research fellow also at Cornell. At sea, I sketched four of our focal species in pen and ink. It was a nice way to pass some time and pay homage to these incredible birds, but I also hope these images can be useful to Gemma and my other colleagues in publications and presentations that highlight their work.

Recent Posts

Published in Western Birds 52(1): An update on the status of the Anna’s Hummingbird in Idaho, as well as documentation of the first breeding record for the state
Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis) Painting featured on the cover of the Journal of Raptor Research
Illustrations featured in a new review on raptor vision in the journal ‘Diversity’
Migrating Sharp-shinned Hawk painting on the cover of Golden Gate Raptor Observatory’s Pacific Raptor
Support Red-tailed Hawk Research!

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