I’ve prepared this sketch for my next painting – “Flight of the Kereru”. This bird is the New Zealand Native Pigeon (Hemiphaga novaeseelandiae), one of our favorite birds.
The Kereru is a large bird (51cm approx) that feeds on the fruit and foliage of our forests. The plumage of the head, chest, back and wings has a beautiful iridescent sheen running through the green, purple and dark grey tonings of the feathers.
Unfortunately, numbers are reduced because a mating pair produces only one chick a year, and despite their fully protected status there are humans who think they have the right to kill these birds for food.
About forrty years ago when they were more plentiful, we often enjoyed the sight of a group of them in the late evenings swooping and soaring on the thermals around the big rock above our property. Sadly, our government chose to use poison in our forests to deal with the possums menace, which almost destroyed our bird populations. So because of that, coupled with illegal human predation, we now see them only rarely.
I have designed this painting to show a pair of Kereru swooping away from the grasslands around our little village of Kaeo into the safety of their home in the forested hills above.
May that mantle of safety become more secure than it is at present.
Enjoy! And, if you are a New Zealander, Take Note. It’s high time we showed some respect for the creatures we have been fortunate enough to inherit.
Patricia
Popularity: 46% [?]
Tags: time, bird populations, chest, iridescent, kaeo <BR/>
