In Search of the Near Threatened Whiskered Pitta

The Whiskered pitta is one of the beautiful pittas from the Pittidae family. It is endemic to Luzon area in the Philippines. Many have tried trekking in this area to photograph this beautiful bird. Only a few success stories.

My travel to the Philippines was mainly for the rare Whiskered Pitta. I got a news from my friend that currently there is a breeding pair of Whiskered pitta nesting high up in the mountains of Luzon. This was a good opportunity to photograph both male and female together. Since they are breeding they would be bold in nature, which makes it a good photographic opportunity.

In the Picture: Male Whiskered Pitta with bright red belly

I traveled all the way from India to Philippines and finally reached Luzon. I had to trek almost 3kms all the way to the top. It took me more than an hour to reach the habitat of this bird. I was accompanied by a guide. The forest was very thick and we can locate it only through its call.

In the Picture: Female Whiskered Pitta

We managed to locate the breeding pair and made some good photographs of both the male and the female bird. This breeding pair was so bold that one of the birds came and sat next to me. One of my great experiences in my birding career.

For more images of Birds Of Philippines, please have a look at the link below:

https://www.photographyaxis.com/portfolio/birds-of-philippines/

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Indian Artists Took 365 Challenge to Create One Paper Cut a Day

Photographer Andrew Garn Spent Eight Years Capturing the Charm of the Common City Bird

A lot of folks may not consider pigeons to be unusual critters, but photographer Andrew Garn disagrees. The native New Yorker has spent the last eight years capturing the charm of those various city birds, using high-performance strobe light photography–a technique that’s often earmarked for studio fashion shoots. Garns’s beautiful pigeon portraits have lately been compiled into a photograph book branded ‘The New York Pigeon: Behind the Feathers’, that shows their”characters, expressiveness, glorious feather iridescence, and deeply hued eyes.”

Printed by powerHouse Books, the show attempts to alter the public perception of this humble pigeon–a bird that is often unkindly nicknamed”stool pigeon” or dismissed as a”rat with wings” The publishers proudly announce,”With this book, the gorgeous, savvy, graceful, type pigeon will probably be invisible no more.” And much like a fashion magazine, Garn also has his star” cover boy”–a purple-breasted bird called Dr. Brown, who is shown”flexing his wings and enormous chest muscles, in an interpretive homage to some Kabuki dancer.”

Many of the photographer‘s feathery friends were rescued from New York streets, including a saddle pigeon named Marilyn who was found limping with string wrapped around her feet. She is photographed flaunting her perfectly symmetrical wings, which fold together into a heart-shape. The show also features pictures of newborn pigeons exploring the world for the first time, including one image of a 10-day-old”inquisitive and confident” pigeon taking his very firsts steps.

H/T mymodernmet

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Artist Kate MccGwire Creates Serpentine Snake-Like Sculptures from Fallen British Bird Feathers

British artist Kate MccGwire creates surreal, enchanting sculptures made from fallen bird feathers. Sourced from local farms, gamekeepers, and pigeon racers, the iridescent, patterned plumage comes from some British birds, including magpies, pheasants, and roosters. The artist’s latest work includes feather-covered, snake-like forms which look like hybrid creatures hibernating in boundaries of antique bell covers, frames, and cabinets.

 

MccGwire first began working with feathers after finding some fallen pigeon feathers close to her rural art studio. Since then, she started collecting the organic material, and exploring “the play of opposites at an aesthetic, intellectual and visceral level.” This composition creates a scale-like illusion of a snake coiled tightly and twisted around itself.

MccGwire describes her work as being like umbilical cords, and explains she aims to seduce the viewer, “however revolt in equal measure.” She explains, “It’s really important to me that you’ve got that rejection of things you believe you know for certain.”

MccGwire regularly shows her work in various exhibitions across Europe. Check out more of her job on her website.

h/t: Colossal

Photographer Captures the Vivid Beauty of Colorful Birds

Leila Jeffreys specializes in catching the unique personalities of each feathery friend through a series of up-close studio portraits, using a target to “portray birds in a way that exhibits their extraordinary beauty and variety, and to inspire a deeper concern for their well-being.”

Following on from her earliest work, which captured colorful portraits of budgerigars and wild cockatoos, she has resumed photographing birds from all over the world. A series from 2014 conveys the intense nature of birds of prey, many of which appear to face the camera without fear. In one shot, Trinity stands fiercely with a puffed out chest, while in a different, Mulga crouches angrily. The owls within this series seem to be a bit timider and sullen; in one picture, Tani stands with her back turned, rotating her mind only halfway to partly face the camera.

These vigorous creatures originate from exotic lands, such as the Australasia rainforests. The Superb Fruit Dove stands proudly wearing his purple crown, and the Emerald Dove exhibits lush green wings from a plumage of dusty pink.

If you love these colorful, feathery photos, you can see them for yourself at Jeffreys’ present exhibition–eligible Ornithurae Volume 1– in the Olsen Gruin Gallery at New York City. It’s available until November 12, 2017.

You may discover more of Jeffrey’s work on her site and Instagram.

In Leila Jeffreys’ brand new show–qualified Ornithurae–she captures the vibrant beauty of multicolored pigeons, doves, and cockatoos.

Flowering Hot-metal Treated Sculptures of Animals by Taiichiro Yoshida

Artist Taiichiro Yoshida creates the delicate wings of birds along with fluffy fur of mammals from a variety of sculpted metal flowers of aluminum, bronze, or silver. Decorative hot metalworking in Japan is regarded as an early technique, beginning sometime in the 2-3rd century BC. Yoshida accomplishes the fragile nature of every piece through smithing, where the hot metal is delicately beaten and then assembled into blooms before being painted. You may see more of his job on Artsy.

h/t Hi-Fructose

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