Barry Kent MacKayArt by Barry Kent MacKay
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Art and Photo Presentation

In this section are copies of original works of art. All of them are dedicated to helping us live according to unconditional love and compassion, which is the foundation of our peaceful means of bringing true and lasting peace to all of God's creatures, whether they are human beings or other animals.

Bright-rumped Attila (Attila spadiceus)

 

Barry Kent MacKay birds painting
(Artwork - 072)
Bright-rumped Attila
(Attila spadiceus)

I saw my first Bright-rumped Attila in 1971, in Costa Rica.   In those days it was usually believed that the Attilas were a type of Cotinga.   When you see a new species of bird it is natural to try to compare it to something familiar, and to me the Bright-rumped Attila sort of resembled a Great Crested Flycatcher (Myarchus crinitus), a species common where I live in Ontario, Canada.  Both species were similar in size, and full of character, being noisy and expressive.   Nowadays the genus, Atilla (usually 7 species recognized, the other six all found in parts of South America) is believed to belong to the Tyrant-flycatcher family, Tyrannidae, and oddly enough, it seems that taxonomists currently think the attilas are closely related to Myarchus. 
 
At any rate, this is the species that lives furthest north, all the way to central Mexico.  It extends south into South America as far as Bolivia, and there is a distinct race, A. s. uropygiatus found in the distinct ecosystem of south-eastern coastal Brazil
 
They are extremely variable in their colour and pattern, they live in a wide variety of habitats and eat a variety of live food, including large insects and small vertebrate species, plus some fruit and seeds. 
 
The painting, a vignette, is in gouache watercolour on paper, and is approximately life-size. 

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Copyright © Barry Kent MacKay
Barry describes himself as a Canadian artist/writer/naturalist.
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