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A studio for bird study

June 9, 2020

Illustrating a Prairie Falcon: A tutorial for the Birds of Prey NCA Partnership’s Snake River Raptor Festival

by Bryce W. Robinson

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25% OFF SALE IN MY SHOP! Because I currently have a pretty low inventory, and I’ll be in the field for most of April (Ecuador/Galapagos and Alberta) and will need to close my shop, I decided to try and clear my inventory. Until either 1 April or I’m all cleaned out, I’ve made a discount code for 25% off of purchases of $40 or more (cost of one print). The code: springclean

I’m excited to see my illustration of the endangered Madagascar Serpent-Eagle put to good use in a paper led by Luke Sutton and researchers with @peregrinefund. This very unique species was a challenge because there is very little reference material to work from. Luckily I had the help of the authors, who gave me a lot of helpful feedback to ensure the illustration was true to the species. To read this paper, which uses remote sensing to model the species distribution and identify areas of suitable but unprotected habitat, copy and paste this url - https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270922000508

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s annual Conservation Stamp for 2023 features my design of the Bluethroat (Luscinia svecica), a species with a North America population that only occurs in Alaska. They’re beautiful songsters with an aerial display that includes a jumbled repertoire of impressive mimicry and cricket like sounds. The conservation stamp is available for purchase! Please consider supporting wildlife conservation by purchasing the stamp at https://store.adfg.alaska.gov/

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.

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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