Roseate Spoonbill

by Don Balke

Title

Roseate Spoonbill

Artist

Don Balke

Medium

Painting - Watercolor On Cold Press Illustration Board

Description

Amid the mangrove swamps of the Louisiana Bayou, high in the cypress trees laden with Spanish moss, a colony of Roseate Spoonbills can be found roosting quietly. As they begin to spread their wings in flight, their stunning plumage is revealed. The bright pink and white body plumes are highlighted with vibrant yellow-orange tail feathers. The vivid carmine or scarlet shoulder patterns complement the Roseate Spoonbill's showy pale pink flight feathers. Gracefully gliding toward the water, their esthetic beauty is spoiled by their bald heads and oversized spoon-shaped bill. However, the bill which ruins the visual beauty of the Spoonbill is truly remarkable in its own right. Each bird swings the partly opened bill in an effortless 180ш arc through the brackish swamp water feeling for fish. When the nerve endings along the inner lining of the bill indicate contact with a living animal, the Spoonbill snaps its bill shut, trapping its prey. After feeding, the Spoonbills fly back to roost or to their nests to feed their young. The Spoonbill builds a bulky nest of sticks and twigs lined with leaves and soft bark in densely-leaved low trees or bushes. Both sexes incubate the eggs, and chicks hatch within one month. The buff-white hatchlings already have the spatulate bills of adults, but must be fed until they are capable of flight several months later. Slow to mature, Roseate Spoonbills are not fully adult until their third year.

Please note the "Fine Art America" watermark will not appear on the painting or any print reproduction.

Artwork Copyright © 1986 Wind River Studios Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved under United States and international copyright laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, or otherwise exploit the Artwork in any way. Any sale of the physical original does not include or convey the Copyright or any right comprised in the Copyright. WRSH Stock Number XB10222

Uploaded

April 7th, 2022

Colors

Embed

Share

Tags