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gildedphoenixx · 2 days

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✧ A Mothers Revenge ✧

A kestrel seeks revenge on a European Starling after it kills and eats her chicks. In the U.S, European starlings have a devastating impact on our native ecosystems in the entire United States. This species is known for their aggression towards other cavity nesting birds, outcompeting native species for nesting spots and food sources. They’ve been known to kill many native species from bluebirds, to woodpeckers, to kestrels. They are violent towards competing species, destroying their nests, and pecking holes in eggs laid by other birds. Not to mention, they also destroy crops and devour multitudes of grain each year.

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I wanted to portray something intense to kind of grab people’s attention to this problem. Most people don’t know how horribly invasive they are. While they’re pretty birds, they’re not meant to live in the United States. I wanted to use colors like red (to represent anger, sadness, revenge, betrayal) to portray what native species have to endure every year towards a bird that was never supposed to even come in contact with them. And colors like yellow (to represent wrongfully perceived innocence and guilt).

The spills of blood can be represented as the successful revenge the kestrel has, or, the multitudes of blood spilled from native species by European Starlings.

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Did you know? All the European Starlings in North America descended from 100 birds set loose in New York’s Central Park in the early 1890s. The birds were intentionally released by a group who wanted America to have all the birds that Shakespeare ever mentioned. It took several tries, but eventually the population took off. Today, more than 200 million European Starlings range from Alaska to Mexico.

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gildedphoenixx · 3 days

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Saw a leucistic robin at work today!

TODAYSBIRD EDIT: such a cool sighting, he is so handsome!! i know leucism is fairly common in robins so i look for them whenever there’s a large group in one area

#bird posting #this is me core #alter: robin

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gildedphoenixx · 5 days

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hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

#art tips

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gildedphoenixx · 5 days

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TW: animal death / injury / death For grandma, who loved pigeons, and for grandpa, who did not but wanted her to be happy. Please hear me out <3 WEBTOON

#I WILL SOB #pigeons my sweet sweet bird

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gildedphoenixx · 6 days

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we’re all boring to someone, annoying to someone, ugly to someone, but it’s not that deep

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gildedphoenixx · 7 days

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Beautiful leather jewelry by Brenda Lyons.

Handmade necklaces created by painting leather with acrylics.

Brenda’s Etsy here

windfalcon on deviantart

#phoenix necklace #0_0 #these are gorgeous

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gildedphoenixx · 11 days

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It's not "anti-recovery" to acknowledge your parts, to give them names and to figure out what feelings and memories they hold. You cannot heal without acknowledging your parts or communicating with them.

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gildedphoenixx · 11 days

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Do you have any cool bird facts

female raptors (eagles, hawks, falcons, etc) are larger than male raptors in pretty much all species. this happens even in groups not closely related to each other (ex: hawks and falcons), so its beneficial enough in their niche that its evolved independently a few times, though its unsure exactly what that benefit is atm (bc unlike males being larger in a lot of mammals, female raptors dont make a habit of fighting each other or using size to attract mates as far as we know). ex: heres a male and female Cooper's Hawk

somewhat mentioned above but falcons are more closely related to parrots than they are to hawks

Gray Catbirds and American Robins have been witnessed raising young in the same nest at the same time. In one instance (reported by Mulvihill and Murray), they were recorded caring for the young of both species in the nest, and when the Catbird young fledged, the adult Catbirds continued to provide food for the not-yet-fledged Robins. heres a pic of the nest from the report

the worlds oldest known bird as of 2024 is a wild Laysan Albatross named Wisdom who's 72-73 years old (at minimum, we dont actually know her birth date, just that she was at least 5 years old when she was banded in the 50s) and still raising chicks. here's her with one of her chicks

also Albatrosses have wingspans of up to 3.5m/11.5ft and have been recorded flying 49,700 miles without touching land (they do land in the water to eat tho)

this is from personal experience but if you walk around in a north american grassland for long enough, you Will get jumpscared by a Mourning Dove bc they make their nests on the ground in the grass and like to hang out on the ground in the grass and they also like to wait until youre right overtop of them to freak out and fly away from you

Bald Eagles don't get their fully white heads and tails until theyre about 5 years old

A lot of birds have been observed incorporating cigarette butts into their nests, and a study in Mexico on House Finches found that this actually results in drastic decreases in parasites affecting young compared to nests without them

Cedar Waxwings (and Waxwings in general) just look so smooth. they look like someone airbrushed them. look at this shit

in Jacanas, females lay eggs in multiple males' nests, and then the males raise the young by themself. Also they carry their babies under their wings like this

Horned Guan. Theyre endangered and live in a small area of central america. both the males and females have the little horn fez, the males just have taller ones

#bird posting

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gildedphoenixx · 16 days

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vultures amirite?

og image below the cut

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gildedphoenixx · 16 days

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my love for vultures knows no limits. They're so silly. the fact that I don't get to see them more often is a crime.

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gildedphoenixx · 18 days

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every single day I think about how american black vultures are known for engaging in interspecific allopreening (preening between different species)

and they have a specific relationship with crested caracaras, in which the black vultures assist them by not only preening them after meals but also leading them to food in the first place— due to their superior sense of smell— while the caracaras assist the black vultures by acting as a warning signal in case of danger

and while this is more typical of black vultures, this is not common at all for any member of the falconidae family— it’s a special bond!

yet another post in favor of vultures everyone , hope you enjoy:) and I implore you to do some more research on these incredible birds !!

EDIT: I meant interspecific allopreening! excuse my typo!

#bird posting #just one more reason why vultures are the best #not D but he will appreciate this

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gildedphoenixx · 19 days

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Colours in the grass

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gildedphoenixx · 19 days

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It’s FLEDGLING BIRD SEASON here in North America…

…which means it’s time for an annual reminder not to kidnap baby birds. Fact: most species of birds have almost no sense of smell. Someone probably told you that if you touch a baby bird, the mother will smell you on it and reject her baby. THAT IS NOT THE CASE. If you’ve found a baby bird and you touched it, all is not lost, you can still return it to mom and dad!

Pictured: a young Mourning Dove, after being rescued from the tender mercies of my dog, circa spring 2005. It’s a fledgling! Note how it has most of its feathers, but still looks a bit awkward and scruffy, and, being unable to properly fly, can be caught by an elderly husky or a child.

Help, I found a baby bird on the ground, what do I do???

Hatchlings/Nestlings: IF it is naked or covered in fluffy down and/or pinfeathers and cannot flutter successfully, it’s a hatchling or nestling, and has fallen from its nest prematurely. Look for the nest- if you find it and can reach it, return baby and then leave and let the parents return. If you can’t find the nest, or if you find it in pieces on the ground, use a small box/yogurt container lined with dried grass and attach as close as possible to where you found the bird or where you think the nest was. If it’s cold, warm it in your hands for a few minutes before putting it back. RETURN BABY!!!!

Fledglings: If you spot a young bird covered with feathers (may have a few patches of fluff) on the ground, it’s a fledgling (bird tween) who is currently working on flying 101 homework, which is normal and fine. Hanging out on the ground is part of the learning to fly process! If it looks like it’s in immediate danger (i.e. of being run over, stepped on, or eaten by a cat or dog), the best thing you can do for it is to gently scoop it up and place it in the low branches of a nearby tree or shrub, and then LEAVE. The parents are likely nearby watching, and will return once the coast is clear. If it flutter-hops away from you and you can’t catch it, then don’t worry! It just successfully avoided a predator (you), and therefore can probably continue to do so. LEAVE BABY ALONE!!!

DO NOT: Try to feed it, bring it into your house or car, or take it to your local domestic animal vet or shelter.

IF it IS actually for-real injured (bleeding, broken limb, attacked by cat, struck window), you can catch it, put it in a dark cardboard box (with NO food or water, young birds can aspirate easily) and contact a licensed wildlife rehabilitation professional, but keep in mind that they get a LOT of fledgling birds, and those birds have a pretty high mortality rate. They may tell you that there is nothing you or they can do but allow nature to take its course, and that’s hard, but important to hear and respect.

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gildedphoenixx · 20 days

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cruel that doing things takes energy.

why can't I just do things endlessly? I have shit to do.

#what do you mean working non stop leads ro burn out?#what do you mean im already burning myself out?#AND its finals week next week?#well then...#vent ish

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gildedphoenixx · 26 days

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