Today is #WhoopingCraneDay! The Whooping Crane (Grus americana) is an endemic North American species that is the continent’s tallest native bird. It is also one of our flagship conservation success stories, having very nearly gone extinct in the early 20th century. Once thought to have numbered at least 10,000 birds,…
Since both Audubon Day and International Flamingo Day are celebrated annually on the 26th of April, what better work to spotlight today than John J. Audubon’s famous flamingo print from his magnum opus, The Birds of America… On the 7th of May, 1832, while sailing from Indian Key, one of…
This gallery contains 12 photos.
For #LoveHornbillsDay, here are examples of kenyalang figures from the Iban people of Borneo. These carved and painted wooden figures are stylized representations of the kenyalang bird, aka the Rhinoceros Hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros). It is the official state bird of Sarawak and national bird of Malaysia. GALLERY The largest sculptures…
This gallery contains 5 photos.
English sisters Mary & Elizabeth Kirby were prolific producers of books dedicated to popularizing science & nature study in the Victorian era. Their 1874 book Humming-birds included 6 color plates…
May 31st is World Parrot Day!
To celebrate, here are two cockatoos seen at the recent Majolica Mania exhibition at the Walters Art Museum:
Haori with Penguins and Icebreaker ShipsJapan, mid-Shōwa period, 1957-58silk plain weave, stencil-printed warp and weft[photos by author] Penguins (Spheniscidae) are found almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere, with only the Galápagos penguin (Spheniscus mendiculus) skirting the other side of the equator. They definitely aren’t native to anywhere near Japan! I saw…
Today is “Bluebird of Happiness Day” (there really is a day for everything isn’t there?) so here is a painting with a bluebird that hopefully brings you happiness, from the underappreciated Finnish artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865–1931):
The Vatican Loggia’s “Raphael Rooms” have long been noted for their immense variety of flora and fauna depicted, including many exotic species. Believed to have executed primarily by Rafael’s associate Giovanni da Udine (1487-1564) between 1517-1519, this artistic menagerie is thought to be an artistic catalog of the real-life menagerie…
Ustad Mansur (active 1590-1624) was a court artist for the Mughal Emperor Jahangir (r. 1605 – 1627). He specialized in natural history art and was responsible for recording the emperor’s rare and exotic specimens, including an important image of the now-extinct Dodo that was recorded from life and in color. The…
International Vulture Awareness Day is celebrated annually on the first Saturday of September. There are 23 extant species of “vultures” split between two distinct taxonomies: the “New World” Vultures, a monophyletic group comprised of 7 species from the Americas in the Cathartidae family, and the “Old World” Vultures, a polyphyletic…
