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I have a soft spot for edgy creatures with skulls for a face. Especially if that edgy creature is a wolf. Enjoy this quick doodle :3

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Some drawings for an ornithology field notebook assignment.

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There was a merch design contest at a club I go to, so I made an entry for the occassion. I can't wait to see all the other designs that were cooked up!

Pls don't repost or use my art for anything unless I give you permission!

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Recent Bird Name Changes

American Ornithological Society Will Change the English Names of Bird Species Named After People

- Commentary and illustration by David Sibley

A lot of people have been talking about bird names for the past few days. I'm so glad that people are thinking about birds but have seen some confusion and misinterpretation. These are my personal thoughts on eponymous bird names... It's not for me to judge what makes someone else uncomfortable, but I know that after I started learning a little more about the history of some of the people honored in bird names, it makes ME uncomfortable. For example, Winfield Scott was a US Army officer in the 1800s. Scott's Oriole was named for him by a junior officer, but there is no evidence that Scott himself ever had an interest in birds. He was very highly regarded as a General, but, among other things, he presided over the forced removal of the Cherokee (the Trail of Tears). Many people today could say that Scott's Oriole is named for a person who carried out the brutal persecution of their ancestors. That bothers me. We should not ignore that history, but it shouldn't be linked to the bird. The AOS has already accepted that such names can be changed (Thick-billed Longspur), and it is clear that Scott's Oriole and many others should also be changed. Taking names case-by-case would be a quagmire of moral judgment, competing interests, PR campaigns, influence-peddling, and more. Renaming ALL these birds for their appearance, sounds, habitat, etc. is the only viable solution. Not because all these people were bad, but because it's impossible to determine who was "good enough" to put their name on a bird. And simply because birds are not objects, and should not have to carry the banner for a person, no matter how good that person was. This process will not be fast and I don't expect anyone to adjust immediately to new names as they are announced. I ask everyone, myself included, to keep an open mind and stay flexible as things change.

Read More:

American Ornithological Society Will Change the English Names of Bird Species Named After People - American Ornithological Society (americanornithology.org)

@typhlonectes @herpsandbirds

Illustration of Steller's Jay

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Gift for Awenabager on IG!

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Digestive Tract of an owl.

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So lately, I've been working a lot with Ontario turtles as part of my summer job, so here's my little tribute to them.

Remember the wip I showed earlier? It's finally done!

So on the top of the stack is a painted turtle, one of the more common freshwater turtles.

Beneath it is a Blanding's turtle, which is endangered in Canada. They are identifiable by their yellow chin and dome-shaped shell that resembles a soldier's helmet.

At the very bottom, there is a common snapping turtle: Canada's largest turtle. Contrary to popular belief, a bite from one of these large turtles won't take your finger, but it'll definitely hurt, and will break skin.

Sadly, all these turtles (as well as all others found in Canada) are at risk. Wild turtles also suffer from poaching/pet trade, habitat loss and road mortality, which is especially true during the nesting season, because they are drawn to roadsides, and need to cross the roads to get to their nesting spots. Most turtles reach sexual maturity at least ~20 years in their life, meaning that it won't be until decades later that a turtle can replace itself in the population.

Fortunately, there have been turtle monitoring programs that have been put in place to help the turtles out (I'm actually on the ground helping out with one of these programs myself!). Conservation scientists are now more focused on tracking the movements and health of turtles in a population by using shell notches and radio tagging. They also try to protect all nests they can identify, and incubate eggs that have been salvaged from gravid turtles that have been killed on the roads. There are willdife rehab centres dedicated to helping injured turtles recover. And although turtles recover slowly from their injuries, their survival rate in wildife rehab centres are extremely high!

If you ever see a turtle on a highway, consider pulling over if it's safe, and help the turtle cross the road, if you can. There are many great online videos that can instruct you how to do this! I'll link you some good ones when I find them.

If I got any information wrong here, feel free to contact me so I don't accidentally spread any misinformation!

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Long time no see!

Here's a wip of a little something I've been working on.

Note: please do not repost, use for AI databases, heavily reference or claim as your own. Thank you.

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Took some photographs on my birding trip today. :) Not exactly the best shots of all time though ':D

Species from top to bottom: Gray catbird, song sparrow, great blue heron and warbling vireo.

Please do not use these photos without my permission.

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Just a rough experimental thing, inspired by an opossum sighting.

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If I have the guts, maybe I could share some nature sightings/journalling entries I had to do for class!

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First post! Hey all! I'm an artist and biology student trying to find some way to blend my two interests together! To christen this blog, here's some sketches I've done a while back!