I want to see the colors that birds see

Common Merganser

A visual artist is often profoundly aware of the ways that colors enhance the beauty of the world.

As a human you have 3 kinds of cone receptors in your eyes allowing you to see the primary colors. A bird has 4! They can see ultraviolet and violet colors that we can’t. Plus their eyes are made in other ways different than ours which means they can see more subtle differences in the primary colors and the colors appear sharper, more vivid. It makes sense that feathers have adapted to birds’ visual abilities which means that for a bird, feathers show even more colors and patterns than we know.  So imagine my disappointment with my human eyes and desire to see like a bird when I learned more about what the world looks like to them.

A black and white feather such as this Merganser's may appear to a bird as a shimmering wonder of violets and blues. 

Beautiful Starlings

Starling Poster

I am fascinated with starlings in part because the only kind where I live was introduced, an immigrant. Since they are considered a pest by many, I tend to notice their beauty, especially the feathers. It is the nature of my perspective as an artist. Ours in North America aren’t the only starlings. As a matter of fact, over 100 species of them grace this world with their different voices, social behavior, and their feathers. I had the opportunity this week to photograph 20 species worth of their feathers. They range from 5 to 45 millimeters each in length and average about 25 millimeters which is about an inch long. The metallic feathers only reflect light from a single angle. In the final image, these feathers are at that angle, at their shiniest. Looking at them from any other direction, they look mostly grayish.  The image shows the feathers at their peak--like an outdoor magazine that only shows the biggest fish caught or a fashion advertisement showing an unattainably beautiful face.  But unlike the beautiful faces, the feathers here aren’t enhanced in photoshop.

Each feather was positioned and lit just right, photographed and then combined in what ended up in a file big enough to print a 10 foot image in fine detail.

Taking Care of Feathers

Preening Crow feather

What if birds had to shop for feather-care products like people shop for hair products? What a confusing array of choices they would have to confront! Thinking about the time I spend combing, washing, drying and fussing over the my head’s small patch of hair makes me more appreciative of the effort a bird goes through to keep the feathers in good shape all over its body.  No matter how vain I might be about my hair, feathers are infinitely more important to a bird than my hair is to me.

The swallows in my barn groom their feathers with their bills and sometimes with their feet, especially when they are shedding old feathers to make way for new ones growing in. They nibble every feather from its base upward to get them aligned just right. They dislodge small feathers as they shed. Then they take a break to shake dust and feathers loose. Often they take to the wing after a preening session and  give themselves a thorough shake while in mid-air, sending a plume of dust and feathers behind them.

Preening is the topic of a small series of feather shadowboxes I am making. This crow piece was the first; Macaws were next. A preening Kingfisher will follow.

Feather shadowboxes images for free?

Trumpeter Hornbill

An artist needs to eat too, so why did I just let Microsoft use twelve feather shadowbox images as their screensaver downloads free of charge? My mission here is to share my appreciation and excitement about life. I have chosen to do this through the complex, diverse and beautiful world of feathers. Screensavers images are a pretty good way to share since we stare at our electronic devices so much. And people do sometimes buy prints and originals from first having seen the images as screensavers.

So have at it: download the second series of a dozen screensavers (or the first series) for your PC computer or Android phone or tablet.

Mirrors

Phalarope in process

I seem to be making a series of feather shadowboxes with the theme of reflection. There’s the real thing, the real bird—and then there is its reflection. Like shadows, I tend to pay less attention to reflections but when I do, it’s a whole different and interesting world.  Then what I see is formed by the real bird and the little disturbances happening in its environment. It’s a story of wind and water and movement.  It’s like my thought process, another kind of reflecting—it depends on the state of my mind—the recent disturbances that affect what I’m thinking. Anyway, it is fun to play around with this in my art.

When finished and mounted, this piece will be entitled "Two Phalaropes." Phalaropes are birds that swim in tight circles twisting the water below them into a funnel that sucks small edible creatures up toward their eager beaks. The materials are two large Capercaillie tail feathers.

Camouflage, feathers, and fashion

Baby Grouse

Sitting very still, high in the Uinta mountains earlier this month, I watched a ruffed grouse slowly forage within a boot’s length of me. At first I stared at a spot 10 feet away under the juniper and aspen where an occasional rustle emerged. Nothing. Only when the grouse moved did I see it. Like a lot of birds that rely on feather patterns to hide, the decorations on each feather are interesting. But together on the bird, they create high-end concealment. If the makers of camouflage clothing for hunting and warfare took note of what birds wear, I would buy a jacket and pants in Ruffed Grouse.

Repeating Patterns 2

The Two Turkeys 2

Feathers on the bodies of birds overlap each other—just their tips show. Depending on the shape of the tips, they are seen on the bird as repeating diamond, triangle, or sometimes rectangle shapes. My art aims to honor both birds and their feathers but since I work with single feathers off the birds, this M.C. Escher-ish piece is a reconstruction and recognition of the patterned arrangements feathers make on birds .

This piece also tells a story of two separate but connected bird species. The first is of an American Turkey. The second is of the only other species of turkey there is: the Ocellated Turkey from Yucatan and parts of Central America.

An essential and important activity

We use our hands to scrub our skin and otherwise groom ourselves. Plus we have tools to help, like hairbrushes. Birds only have their beaks plus they have a lot more to take care than just skin—thousands of feathers. Without preening, the feathers would get dirtier by the day. They would not be able to repel water and would look ugly and dull as well. Without preening feathers barbs would come apart and stay apart and eventually the bird would not be able to fly. Mites would have the upper hand and eat the feathers starting with the down next to the bird’s skin. Feathers would clump together. The bird would be cold. So birds spend hours each day preening and they only have their bills to do it. I thought it interesting to film this Spoonbill preening because most birds use a pointed beak rather than a spoon-shaped one. The Spoonbill looks surprisingly efficient.

The longest flight

Godwit World

Last week I was returning 3000 miles from the east to the west coast of the United States, trying not to be bored on the 5-hour trip. Looking out on the wings of the plane I hoped that the metal skin was sturdy and the rivets secure.

With flight, distances have shrunk and the earth seems much smaller. Confined to my seat, I thought of birds like terns and godwits that migrate across the globe twice a year every year and have done so for eons. What does the world look like to them?

What does a bird experience on a self-propelled non-stop 7,000-mile, 200-hour trip from the Arctic to New Zealand with miles and miles of nothing but sea? Does it pray for its feathers to hold together, as I did for the wing of the airplane?

So I took out my sketch pad and drew a design for a new shadowbox; then back at the studio, rushed to work on it.

Bar-tailed Godwits live in and migrate from Asia, Europe, Africa, New Zealand, and Australia and not much in South and North America except Alaska. Cornell’s All About Birds describes in more detail the migration other facts about the Kuaka--what they call Bar-tailed Godwits in New Zealand. And yes, their feathers do look a bit worn after their long flights.

Where feathers came from and where they went

Dino feathers, clumped barbs

In 2011, a student at the University of Alberta found these feathers in fossil amber. They are 80 million years old and likely from dinosaurs.

You might assume that the first feathers were for flight but you’d probably be wrong. Flight feathers are incredibly complex. Like a single cabin rebuilt into a house, then into a town, and then a city, growing things begin simply and evolve into more complex forms. So it makes a lot more sense that the first feathers were simpler arrangements. The first feathers would likely be just individual shafts; then shafts with barbs--like branches coming from the shafts which is what is pictured here. After that, feather barbs would themselves branch by adding barbules coming off the branches. This is what we know as down—filamenty, whispy, and warm. Then barbules would add the little microscopic hooks on their ends to keep the barbs connected, sort of like Velcro. This would make a feather vane—the flat surface needed for flight. Only then would a feather evolve the further features needed for flight. So these feathers were used for something else—perhaps to aid swimming or to keep the creature warm.

Studio Tour, Sept 14

I am excited to offer my studio for an end of the summer art tour.

The day should be perfect, sunny and warm but not too hot. New pieces wait your viewing including a 6 foot long crow theme piece, still unframed. You can purchase original art andsmall and larger prints and cards. The feathers I work with will show their stuff, different kinds that you have probably never seen. See where it is that I cut and arrange feathers into shadowbox designs.

The drive is well marked with half circle window facing the main road, Ayer Street, and a green-roofed barn in back. Bear right on the gravel drive and you will be directed by signs to parking.

The salmon are running so fish are getting smoked and will be on hand to munch on along with wine, juice, and cheese.

Guide to legal and illegal feathers in the USA

Gyr Falcon flight feathers

I pay special attention to the legal requirements of possessing feathers since I sell feather art. Many people tell me about their small feather collections so I thought I’d share a rough guide to what feathers you can have in the USA.

I can have:

1. Feathers from most birds that are not native to North America. European Starlings, House Sparrows, Eurasian Collared Doves, and Ring-neck Pheasants are not native to North America. Also, think feathers of peacocks, many parrots, most of the 55 species of pheasants, and small songbirds like zebra finches that are kept in cages. The biggest exceptions to this are the restrictions on having feathers of most birds that live outside North America that are critically endangered1,3.

2. Feathers from most wild duck and geese you can’t sell, except for mallards. You can sell other kinds of duck feathers only if it is for fly tying for fishing.

3. Upland birds that people hunt—like turkey, grouse, and pheasant. Each state can have more restrictive laws, like in Washington State the Sharp-tailed Grouse is threatened so you can’t have those feathers unless you show it came from another state where hunting is permitted.

I can’t have:

1. Feathers from almost all other birds in my country—not eagles of course, but also not seagull feathers, songbird feathers, or even crow feathers (unless you have a permit to kill crows, but you still can't sell them).2

2. Feathers from many birds from other countries that are critically endangered3.

Though all birds naturally shed their feathers about once a year, you’re not legally supposed to have most of them. A law called the (U.S.) North American Migratory Bird Act was made a long time ago when people were killing too many birds to use for fashionable hats. It’s a broad-brush law intended to protect birds.  It doesn’t recognize the difference between plucked feathers, shed feathers, or bird skins; you can’t have any of it. If a feather was pulled from a dead bird that you found at the side of the road or the beach, how does someone know that the bird wasn’t killed on purpose just for the feathers? It can sometimes seem silly but it is a matter of reasonable enforcement, like speeding law enforcement on the highway.

I try to be familiar with the laws but the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is the place to go to for the final word in the USA. Here are some links to their sites plus another helpful link:

1 The American Federation of Aviculture's website has a discussion of when you can have feathers from parrots from other countries that are critically endangered in those countries but because they are commonly kept in aviaries in the USA, it is ok to have their feathers in the USA.

2 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the place to go for the final word on the Migratory Bird Act. The law is explained and they have an alphabetically arranged list of protected birds.

3 Here is a link to lists of earth's endangered species; click Cites Appendices. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service  oversees the Convention on Internation Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) within the USA.

Starlings are absolutely beautiful!

Color chart of starling feather colors

Starlings are absolutely beautiful! More than 100 species of starlings share the world with us. The one we know and usually don’t like in North America is originally European, its namesake.  In Australia and other places another starling, the common myna is not native and not well liked.

But in Europe, Asia, and especially Africa, lots of often gaudy beautifully metallic species roam around and get respect with names like Splendid Starling and Superb Starling.

A PhD candidate at the University of Akron, Rafael Maia is doing some research on the metallic coloring of starling  feathers. He measured their reflectance and structure under a scanning electron microscope. He is investigating how these bird’s metallic colors change and at least in some birds seem to be getting more complex (more beautiful) in over time as they evolve in response to sexual selection. I am borrowing some of his research feathers to photograph and hope to soon have a large and colorful composite photo of all the starling feathers. He plotted the colors of the starling feathers on this color chart, the white dots being the non-metallic ones.

How I get my feathers

Impeyan Pheasant feathers

Where I live, I can’t legally have most North American bird feathers, so most of my feathers are from aviaries.  Since birds shed their feathers about once a year, my favorite way to get feathers are from these sheds. It is like a gift and it is nice to know that the bird is still alive and hopefully well. I even raise a couple of Impeyan Pheasants, the National Bird of Nepal. I collect and use their feathers and get to know what the birds are like even though they are caged, not at 13,000 feet high in the Himalayas. Since my birds are molting now, I picked up their feathers this morning and took this picture this article. The male is fuzzy in the background.  I pick up every shiny feather he sheds.

One time I received a large bag of tiny parakeet feathers from a woman.  Her mother was 75 years old, she told me, when she got a parakeet to keep her company after her husband died. Her mother picked up every single feather from her bird for 22 years.

Most people who send me feathers don’t have time to pick up every tiny one. So most of the molted feathers I use in my shadowboxes are fairly large.  Some are given to me and the rarer ones I purchase or trade for. I have long established relations with several bird owners, zoos, and breeders as well.

Sadly, birds die from disease, predators, accidents, and old age. Parrots that die of old age can be older than me—they live for a long time. Their owners sometimes would rather see the feathers be of use in art rather than be buried with the bird. So I use feathers from these birds too, especially the tinier feathers. Several owners have commissioned me to memorialize their deceased bird in a piece of art.

A feather Column at a Wedding

Wedding feather installation column

I put feathers in shadowboxes, nice and contained. The nature of a feather seems to want out, to float free. I love to see how feathers glide, swirl, float, spin, and wobble when I drop them from balconies to see how they fall. Slowly gravity pulls them down but the resistance of the air keeps them afloat for a while. Someday a video study of falling feathers is in order.

This is looking up at a simple hanging display for a wedding above the heads of the couple getting married. I wanted to capture the sense of falling floating feathers.

YouTube Video of Installation

Swans anyone?

Swan Feather shadowbox, white feathers on white background

Some mute swan feathers that have been gathering dust the past year are finally getting put to artistic use.  I love the way their body feathers (the ones I used for the background in this piece) do a 180 degree curve. This really helps the bird to puff up and trap air. All swan feather vanes (the flat part of a feather) are so thin you can look right through them to see the shapes of what’s behind the feathers.  Swans are big tough birds and they need tough durable feathers to keep warm, water repellent, and migrate. Their feathers do seem to wear out faster than some other birds. Besides being thin, white is the least durable of feather color. That’s because the proteins that cause darker coloration also add strength to a feather. It’s curious why these feathers are built so seemingly thin and delicate compared to other feathers. I am waiting to hear from several biologists who I have asked why this is so with swans. I’ll report back if I hear anything definitive.

Feather Column

Instead of getting placed in shadowboxes, goose body feathers find themselves in a column, hanging still in the air but free to move about with any air motion. This is a new direction this is my first small piece. The first big installation of this idea is planned for an open 3-floor state building—the Washington Department of Ecology’s 40 foot high entryway. I envision a conical spiral.  The installation date has not been set, perhaps as soon as August. There’s a lot of logistics to figure out. I’ll post pictures when it is completed and, since the building is public, anyone may come to see it during working hours if you happen to be in the area.

Freezing Motion

Feather shadowbox (detail), macaw feather

This is a tribute to very early photography when motion was stopped for the first time.  People learned all sorts of things by freezing movement—like how animals run and birds fly. The series of images of a songbird caught in flight were the type of thing that later were put together in pictures shown quickly one after another to give the appearance of movement—the first motion picture.  This is a close-up, using a Macaw feather, I cut the feathers to mirror a set of flying songbird images from photographs taken by Eadweard Muybridge in the late 1870s.

What's the use of beauty anyway?

Beauty on the Move

Not only does seeing beautiful things make us feel alive, in a very real way, beauty keeps us alive. For one thing, if we weren’t attracted to children, we’d have less of a desire to protect them. And it’s harsh, but lots of studies show that beautiful children do get more attention and generally better treatment and breaks than less good looking children. Same with adults. And beautiful people attract more mates which both gives more descendants and over time, selects for the more beautiful. It is the same with birds—only the males are the ones that advertise their beauty in more colorful and fantastical ways. Half-way through reading Survival of the Prettiest, by Nancy Etcoff, this design came to mind. I named it Beauty on the Move.

Dragon Feathers

Birds are my standard themes for feathers. So I felt like I was headed off this theme with this one. But honestly, it came about through writing a poem about feathers for a children’s book:

Dragon Feathers

Some dinosaurs grew small plumes

To keep them warm from chilly doom

If dinosaurs had a few

Why then couldn’t dragons too?

But dragon fire would burn them off

Unless the quills were really tough

Scales is what a dragon’s got

‘cause with plumes they’d be too hot