THE WEDNESDAY STUDIO

Watercolor and Pastel Artists at CHAW

Draw-a-Bird Day for September: Cosmopolitan Birds

I always thought “cosmopolitan” meant urban (or even urbane), but I learned it means something different in nature. In the world of “biogeography,” a cosmopolitan animal is one that lives or ranges all over the world. 

Thanks to “Wednesday Studio spouse” Jeff Fletcher–husband of our Tara Hamilton–for suggesting “cosmopolitan birds” as a theme for DAB-Day.

For birds, to be cosmopolitan means they live on or range to six continents (“they” don’t count Antarctica) or at least three oceans, and there are only a few dozen species that qualify. Actual counts vary–Wikipedia lists only 25, but the Cornell Lab adds another five or so. (This is out of an estimated 11,000 species of birds in our world.)

Here are the birds–cosmopolitan or not–submitted for September 2024 DAB-Day:

Ezra P., age 9. Sooty Tern. Face paint, acrylic, and pencil. [A cosmopolitan bird.]
Tom Eichenberger: Black -Crowned Night Heron. Acrylic and markers. [An “honorable mention” cosmopolitan bird, per Cornell, because the species is in five continents but doesn’t make it all the way to the Australian continent (it gets as close as East Timor).]
Lynne Mallonee Schlimm: Rock Pigeon. Watercolor. [A cosmopolitan bird; I also learned that a rock pigeon and a rock dove are the same thing.]
Mara P., age 6: Barn Swallow. Face paint and pencil. [A cosmopolitan bird.]
Jim Eichenberger: Snowy Plover Chick Running on Beach. Watercolor. [Not a cosmopolitan bird. Jim tells us that the Pacific Coast population of the Western snowy plover (Charadrius nivosus nivosus), a migratory shorebird, is categorized as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. Its numbers have undergone a dramatic decrease in recent decades due to habitat loss, human disturbance, and predation.
Kay Elsasser: Hummingbird. Watercolor. [Not a cosmopolitan bird.]
Anne Shields: Ruddy Turnstone. Pastel. [A cosmopolitan bird.]
Carolyn Rondthaler: Ruddy Turnstone. Watercolor. [A cosmopolitan bird. Yes!–we have two this month.]
Donna Breslin: Dancing in the Surf. Pastel. [Snowy egret. Not cosmopolitan, but its cousin, the great egret is, and another cousin, the cattle egret, is an honorable mention cosmopolitan bird.]
Grammy P.: Parakeet. Face paint and acrylic. [A cosmopolitan bird.]
Pat Stocks: Streamertail Hummingbird. Pastel. (Not a cosmopolitan bird.]
Marian Wiseman: Barn Owl. Watercolor. [A cosmopolitan bird.]

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One comment on “Draw-a-Bird Day for September: Cosmopolitan Birds”

  1. healyjackson
    September 10, 2024
    healyjackson's avatar

    Marian,

    You keep me in the learning mode. I like it! Thank you.

    Healy

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This entry was posted on September 10, 2024 by in Birds, Draw-a-bird day and tagged , , , , , , , , , .

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