Whoosh

No, these aren’t portraits showing the extraordinary beauty of Grackles,  this is what happens when you put butter cookies out for them. Butter cookies, a leading cause of temporary grackle insanity. All images 1500 x 996, click for full size. I rather like the disembodied talon in the last shot.

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© C. Ford.

Trompe l’oeil Mural

Lots of wows here, amazing work by Collin van der Sluijs. Van der Sluijs was most recently in Chicago where he completed a tremendous mural in the south loop as part of the Wabash Arts Corridor that depicts two endangered Illinois birds amongst an explosion of blooms. He also opened his first solo show in the U.S. titled “Luctor Et Emergo” at Vertical Gallery, featuring a wide range of paintings and drawings. You can follow more of his work on Flickr.

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Via Colossal Art.

Absolutely. Terrifying.

Zhenyuanlong-Chuang

The newly described dinosaur Zhenyuanlong suni measured 5 feet in length and was a relative of the velociraptor. The fossil’s well-preserved wings bore complex feathers, not simple hairlike structures. Illustration by Zhao Chuang.

Click image for full size. I don’t know about you, but if something like that was chasing me…godsdamn. Feathers, much more terrifying than scales, hands down.

They Had Feathers: Is the World Ready to See Dinosaurs as They Really Were?  (Via Pharyngula.)

Medicine as Metaphor

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© Sara Landeta.

 

http://www.saralandeta.com/2015/05/la-medicina-y-sus-metaforas-medicine-as.html

http://www.saralandeta.com/2015/05/la-medicina-y-sus-metaforas-medicine-as.html

A most poignant series by Sara Landeta. Her description:

The project includes a collection of 120 boxes of drugs that have been consumed by different patients to overcome their illnesses. All boxes are illustrated inside with a broad classification of birds from different families, being the only animal that although it gives it a meaning of freedom, because it is the only one able to connect with the earth and the sky, is also one of the main animals in captivity. This juxtaposition of the natural and the synthetic interprets the patient as a captive animal, and the bird as its metaphor.
Draw a collection of birds inside these boxes holding a single reflection ; l will learn to be birds in captivity, but they are wanting to fly, and that is what keeps them alive. 
I can’t speak for every chronic pain person out there, but this touches me deeply. There’s more at Colossal Art and The Jealous Curator.