WillemSvdMerwe on DeviantArthttps://www.deviantart.com/willemsvdmerwe/art/White-Necked-or-Bare-Headed-Picathartes-657824604WillemSvdMerwe

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White-Necked (or Bare-Headed) Picathartes

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Description

This is a Bare-Headed (or White-Necked) Picathartes, Picathartes gymnocephalus.  Only two species of Picathartes ate presently known to exist. They're members of the songbird order, and have been classified as babblers, but currently are considered to constitute their own, unique family, though perhaps close to crows.  They live in equatorial rainforests from West to Central Africa.  They have very particular environmental needs: they follow swarms of army ants, picking off the fleeing critters; also they need rock walls or cliffs, because they build their mud nests on these walls, underneath overhangs to protect their nests, eggs and chicks from the near-constant rain.  Picathartes are about 40 cm/16" in overall length.  Watercolour, bit of tweaking with Photoshop.
Image size
971x693px 267.05 KB
Make
Canon
Model
CanoScan 4400F
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Comments20
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TerribleTer's avatar
Really nice composition, my friend!  And thanks for the bird bio--I always appreciate learning more.