In drawing or painting birds of prey, it’s important to know physiological differences for rendering an accurate portrayal.
That’s the idea behind “Avian Art and Anatomy,” a two-part course offered at this year’s American Bald Eagle Festival.
American Bald Eagle Foundation employees Samantha Wilson and Leia Minch will offer the course 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Nov. 12-13. “We’ll start with an overview of birds and explain what makes raptors raptors” and why that’s important to the birds, said Wilson, a biologist who serves as the foundation’s museum coordinator.
“Providing an explanation of why a certain feature is important to the animal helps cement that understanding in the mind of the artist,” Wilson said.
For example, owls are zygodactl, meaning they perch with two toes facing forward and two facing back, an adaptation that gives them a firm grasp on prey, considering they have relatively smaller toes than other birds of prey, Wilson said. “It’s more of a crushing action.”
Longer-toed eagles, that don’t need to grasp prey in quite the same way, perch with three toes forward and a single one behind, Wilson said.
There are other differences in feather configuration. Most raptors have exactly 10 primary feathers and 16 secondary feathers on each wing. Crows and ravens have fewer, she said.
“It’s important (for artists) to get the details right because you don’t have to be a biologist to look at a drawing and know that something’s off,” Wilson said.
The foundation will provide paper and pencils for the sketch class as well as specimens of wings, bills and a live bird in action “as long as a live bird wants to participate.”
Wilson said she has taken a few art classes but students will be on their own in terms of the actual drawing. “We’re going to give them the tools and give them the basics and let them go. It will be very hands-on. That’s the intention,” she said.