Shore birds

[Phillip Carr]

I found these vintage paintings of some type of shore birds. It appears these were done in the early 1900's. They are very intreasting, in it appears water colors, and real feathers were used to make the birds. Not knowing the type of shore birds that are hunted. I am not sure what type are trying to be presented, nor if the feathers are correct. I do not find any signature on the paints, but could be under the frame. Has any one seen birds done like this, can the birds be identified, and possibly anyone know if these were common?

Thanks Phil




http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss14/Philcarr/Watson%20Bros/IMG_0012.jpg

http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss14/Philcarr/Watson%20Bros/IMG_0010.jpg

[Robert Delk]

Looks like feathers from a hen mallard were used on the larger bird in the top photo.I would say flicker feathers were used on the smaller bird in the bottom photo.I think the other two birds are what they call "yellow legged sandpipers." Shore birds can be confusing as many look a lot alike at certain times of the year.

[Robert Delk]

Make that upland sandpiper instead of yellow legs.I'm sure the artist took plenty of license in doing the pictures though.

[Phillip Carr]

Thanks for the information. I thought these paintings were rather rather unique in you do not see a lot of shore birds compared to waterfoul. Has anyone seen water colors and feathers used this way before?

[Robert Delk]

I've never seen shorebirds done that way or anything from that era(pre- 1918 ?)done with feathers. It would illegal to do it now as it involves migratory bird feathers.I don't know what the law is on ownership but I do know the wildlife people can get pretty aggressive in enforcement.

[Rick Losey]

Last year in an antique shop in New York's Southern Tier, there was a Ruffed Grouse and a Hen Mallard done this way.

I had taken pictures, but of course proving the "you don't need it until you throw it away' law of nature. I cleared out my over load of photos on my phone just a few weeks ago, figuring those were some I would never need.

[Kevin McCormack]

The bird in the foreground of the first picture is a Clapper rail. The bird in the background appears to be a Lesser yellowleg, as does the bird in the foreground of the second picture. The bird in the background of the second picture is a Northern Flicker.

[Phillip Carr]

Thanks guys for the information. I am not sure how good the Flickers were to eat..... but may taste like Meadowlark. When we were kids we grew up in a poorer part of the town. One of the hispanic kids next door and my brother and I would shoot Meadowlarks with our BB guns. His mother called them CHILE CON CARNES. It was not until I was in High School that I found out they were actually Western Meadowlarks. LOL.
Phil

[Robert Delk]

He took a lot of license with the flicker as they do not have barring on the head and they are good to eat.

[Dean Romig]

Yellow Shafted Flicker?

[Kevin McCormack]

Yes indeed they do have barring on the head; a red stripe at the base of the rear skull on the Northern Flicker and below and forward of the eye on the Yellow-Shafted Flicker.

[Robert Delk]

Not to put to fine of a point on it but if you will look at the picture of the picture and a picture of an actual flicker of either species you will see that an actual flicker is not anything like the artists rendering. Now as for the "clapper rail" the one in the picture is again not plumaged like the actual bird but does have the conformation and bill color.He did use actual flicker feathers in his art work but the clapper rail does not have a speculum like the one shown.

[Robert Delk]

All you have to do is "google" the birds' names and click on "images" to see what the things look like in a bunch of different postures and angles.

[Destry L. Hoffard]

I've got one of these that's a blue wing teal and I've seen another that was a pair of snipe. These are cool, I love this sort thing.

Destry

[Kevin McCormack]

Yes, you are putting too fine a point on it. Either Audubon's "Birds of North America" renderings of the various seasonal plumages on both of these species is completely wrong, or the coloration of the various carvings of both of these I have on the shelves of my gunroom wall are bogus as well. Artists' interpretations of seasonal plumages of birds vary widely depending on whether they are painting from a photograph or drawing, or if they are using a freshly-killed specimen as a model. The light bounce off both these pictures is deceptive; the Clapper rail looks as if it is missing its left wing, and the right wing appears to be bent back, rotating the speculum to the rear. There is no mistaking either species; the color patterns are genuine if not the placement and contrasting plumage.

[Robert Delk]

The head of a flicker does not have the barring on the head shown in the picture. He was making an interpretation of a flicker and not an actual bird.That was my point. His rendering is not what the actual bird looks like in life.Bird watching is all about nuance in identifying many species and I have been watching birds for over 50 years in several states and 4 countries.Some birds look a lot alike but the "clapper" and "flicker" ,as depicted by the artist, do not exist.

[Kevin McCormack]

Yes it does have barring on the head; a flicker is an "actual bird". How he chooses to depict it is his pictures is a choice of expressionism. I have been killing birds for 49 years in ME, NH, VT, NY, DE, MD, VA, ND, SD, WA, MT, KS, OH, IO, TX, Scotland and Argentina. Clappers and flickers do exist, just not like he depicted them. So there!

[Robert Delk]

Kevin! Show me a picture with barring on the head of a flicker. The marks on the nape do not count.

[Phillip Carr]

Thanks for the info. I am learning a lot. I hung them up today in my office and I really like the looks. Here are a few more pictures I thought I would share. I may just need to try and find a way to shoot some of these birds some day.


http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss14/Philcarr/Shore%20birds/DSCF0260.jpg
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss14/Philcarr/Shore%20birds/DSCF0259.jpg
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss14/Philcarr/Shore%20birds/DSCF0259.jpg
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss14/Philcarr/Shore%20birds/DSCF0257.jpg

[Destry L. Hoffard]

The yellowlegs and flicker could be tough, since they've both been off the list for so long. But the rails are possible, I've shot them down in Virginia with what's probably the only family of black hunting guides left in the US.


Destry

[Don Kaas]

As Horatio was pointedly told by his BFF, Hamlet, "There are more things in this world than are dreamt of in your philosophies."