Kākāriki of AotearoaI have explored the different types of parrots in the kākāpō post, so I won't go into that here. I grew up signing the rainbow in Te Reo at primary school, so for me, "kākāriki" means "green", and "karaka" means orange, so this bird's name is a bit confusing for my super-basic Māori language skills!
0 Comments
The name "fairy tern" is so endearingIn Te Reo, the names of this bird are tara iti, tara teo, or tara teoteo. "Iti" and "teo" mean tiny. Repeating a syllable is often done in Māori as emphasis. "Tara" means tern, but it also has a lot of other meanings. I like the idea of it being a tiny sharp thing.
A medium-sized storm petrel, grey above with prominent white rump, dark-grey flight feathers and tail, mainly white underparts, white face with a broad white stripe above the eye, a nearly square cut rather than forked tail when folded, and black legs and yellow webbing. In flight, the wings are broad and the long legs dangling; they move over water in a series of hops striking it with both legs.
Population: perhaps 100-300 pairs. Source: NZ birds online Parrots of AotearoaThere are quite a few species of parrot in New Zealand, some of which are sadly extinct. There are nine surviving species which are endemic to NZ. Two of these species are on our list of the Threatened–Nationally Critical birds to draw in this series (shown in bold). Sadly, several others are also endangered. Meet the Tokoeka (at the same time as me, lol)OMG - the tokoeka is a Kiwi! How delightful! I really enjoy being a bit surprised by the subject of my design each day, so I research as I go. Duck detectionOK, so at first glance, this just looks like "a duck". Like, a normal duck. Oh dear, there are multiple species called "toroa" on this list, and I didn't realise. Ok, let's make sure that we get the differences between them really clear!
Consulting Wikipedia: Current thinking divides the albatrosses into four genera. The number of species is a matter of debate. The IUCN and BirdLife International recognise 22 extant species (listed below), ITIS recognise 21 (the 22 below minus T. steadi), and one recent paper proposed a reduction to 13 (indicated in parentheses below), comprising the traditional 14 species minus D. amsterdamensis. Chatham Island taaiko is also known as the magenta petrel
My first thought was: "Magenta petrel" sounds amazing... but the bird is not at all pink or red...
"At sea, one bird was taken as a specimen in 1867 and named the Magenta petrel after the Italian expedition’s ship" - oh. Today has been a busy day, with errands and earrings taking up most of the daylight. As I finally settle down to draw, El Huzbando is already making our dinner! ResearchShags have a very distinct silhouette, and, with their amusing name, became one of the only non-forest birds that I could recognise easily - but there are so many species! The watercolour image below shows the importance of tiny details in making sure each species is correctly represented. Every day, another birdIt's sometimes hard to get started on a drawing. Generally, I just let myself choose another task, and come back to the drawing when the mood takes me - but I have committed to a bird every weekday, so here we go - my first attempt at overcoming "drawer's block".
|
AuthorCat Drayer Archives
December 2019
Categories
All
|