Shorebirds in Northern California

Description:

A traditional black and white illustration of several shorebirds near the waterline on a beach in Northern California. The two smaller birds on the left are Least Sandpipers (Calidris minutilla) and the larger bird to their right is a Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola). This illustration is intended to illustrate how similar shorebirds can look at a distance in the winter: the more diagnostic markings of breeding plumage have been exchanged for streaky brown-gray winter plumage, and relative size is difficult to accurately discern on a flat stretch of beach.

Medium: ink (crow quill) on clayboard