Don Balke: Black Oystercatcher

Artist: Don Balke
1932 -
Nationality: American
Artwork Year: 1985
Image Size: 12.25 by 10.75 inches
Overall Size: 21 by 19.125 inches
Medium: Water Color on Cold Press Illustration Board

Frequently found amid the surf-hammered rocks and reefs of the Pacific coast, the somberly plumed Black Oystercatcher feasts on a variety of shellfish. The all black or dark brown bird is yellow-eyed, with pink legs and feet, and it is slower and more tame than its cousin the American Oystercatcher. Like the American, the Black Oystercatcher uses its sharp, bright red bill to feed on crustaceans, which cling to the rock surfaces. Sluggish in flight and stilted in gait, the Black Oystercatcher reacts to danger by squatting in a depression and emitting a piercing whistle, especially when intruders approach its nest. The nest is built in a gravelly hollow above the tide line of the beachhead or along the reef. Both parents attend the brown-speckled buffy eggs during incubation. The downy brown chicks can run well just three days after hatching, catch insects after five days, and can both fly and use their dusky bills to pry limpets from the rock before the end of their first month. Non-migratory, the Black Oystercatcher seldom wanders more than 30 miles from its nesting place on the mainland, however it is sometimes found on the rocky islets off the coast. The Black Oystercatcher is also a sociable bird, often peacefully feeding on the same rocky shores as turnstones, sandpipers and American Oystercatchers. The Black Oysetercatcher is sometimes called "redbill" by commercial fishermen.

This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood® commemorative cover for Balke's Shorebirds of the 50 States, cancelled February 14, 1986.

Artwork Copyright © 1985 Unicover Corporation. All Rights Reserved under United States and international copyright laws. You may not reproduce, distribute, transmit, or otherwise exploit the Artwork in any way. Images of the Artwork may be watermarked and/or digitally watermarked. Any sale of the physical original does not include or convey the Copyright or any right comprised in the copyright.

Our Stock Number (SKU): XB10071

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