Thursday, October 15, 2009 ~ 2 Comments

imaginary bird

to go with the imaginary birdhouses, of course. Created for James Gurney's  'Art By Committee'  Sketch-a-long (you really must follow his blog if you aren't already).
He's actually based on the Marabou stork of East Africa, which, standing between 3 - 4 feet tall with a wing span of over 10 feet, is already a pretty intimidating bird. I've been within a few feet of these immensely ugly birds - frankly, hippos were less alarming.

Because they are so large, they use the updrafts generated by Kampala's tallest buildings to gain altitude - which meant you could always see them gliding around the Ugandan Ministry of Revenue.

Buzzards circling a tax office seems rather symbolic...



2 Responses to "imaginary bird"

  1. gravatar
    Karen November 23, 2009 at 4:56 AM Permalink

    I am completely in love with this bird, Sue! WOW!

  2. gravatar
    Susan Adsett November 23, 2009 at 7:04 PM Permalink

    I'm not sure you'd feel the same way about a marborou stork - they are nasty looking/smelling creatures! (and darn intimidating at over 4 feet high - A bird that can look you in the eye is just plain freaky)

    My version is a bit more user-friendly.