A studio for bird study

Published in Western Birds 52(1): An update on the status of the Anna’s Hummingbird in Idaho, as well as documentation of the first breeding record for the state

by Bryce W. Robinson

I’m privileged to see my name on two publications in Western Birds 52(1), alongside some great people from the Intermountain Bird Observatory. Both papers are focused on the changes to the status of Anna’s Hummingbird in Idaho, and feature some paintings and a photograph of mine.

The main point from the first article led by Jessica Pollock – Number of over-wintering Anna’s Hummingbird in Idaho has substantially increased in the last ten years, and the species is now present year round in the state, perhaps as a resident.

The main point from the second article led by me – Documentation of the first successful breeding for the species in Idaho, as well as a discussion on why we can be reasonably sure these offspring are pure Anna’s and do not represent hybridization with a Black-chinned Hummingbird

Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis) Painting featured on the cover of the Journal of Raptor Research

by Bryce W. Robinson

I’m excited to once again see a painting of mine on the cover of the Journal of Raptor Research. This painting of a Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis) corresponds to the feature article by Rocky Gutierrez that details the Spotted Owl conservation conflict. Gutierrez outlines this conflict between environmental advocates and the logging industry as a case study for understanding why some conservation issues are so difficult, and ways we can work to manage such conflicts when they are so often too difficult to resolve.

You can read this article open access online

This original painting is also available for purchase in the shop.

Illustrations featured in a new review on raptor vision in the journal ‘Diversity’

by Bryce W. Robinson

Figure 1 from Potier 2020. Potier included this phylogeny, adapted from our paper ‘Defining Raptors and Birds of Prey’ by McClure et al. 2019, to illustrate the dietary habits within each order of raptor. Image ©Diversity.

I’m very happy to see my illustrations put to good use in a new review on raptor vision by Simon Potier in the journal Diversity. Simon outlines a general trend, that predatory and scavenging raptors have specific visual adaptations that are geared toward their respective lifestyles, as you can see in the figure below. These adaptations are generally, independent of their taxonomic relationships.

Graphical abstract from Potier 2020. My illustrations of a Harpy Eagle and White-backed Vulture, used to represent their respective foraging guild and highlight the visual differences between predatory and scavenging raptors. Image ©Diversity.

I’m excited on many levels that Simon thought of me to illustrate for his paper. These illustrations are put to good use in this great review, but they’ll live on as the respective species profile images in The Peregrine Fund’s Global Raptor Impact Network (GRIN) as well. Given my current workload as a PhD student, and my ambition to continue to illustrate and provide these materials to GRIN and anyone else with illustration needs for peer-reviewed publications, etc., I find this willingness to collaborate and spread the use of these illustrations as a big win for everyone. In that regard, I thank Simon and The Peregrine Fund for their support and willingness to work together to achieve our respective objectives.

I’ve listed the following originals for sale in the shop. If you’re interested in purchasing these, click on the image. Thanks to all for the continued support of my work to integrate research and illustration in ornithology.

Migrating Sharp-shinned Hawk painting on the cover of Golden Gate Raptor Observatory’s Pacific Raptor

by Bryce W. Robinson

I’m privileged to see my painting of a migrating Sharp-shinned Hawk featured on the cover of the Golden Gate Raptor Observatory publication, Pacific Raptor. If you are not aware of the observatory or the work they do, you can find out more at their website –

https://www.parksconservancy.org/…/golden-gate-raptor…

You can also see what is inside this issue of Pacific Raptor here –

https://www.parksconservancy.org/…/PR_41_Final…

Thanks to my good friends Allen Fish and Teresa Ely for the opportunity to share my work with the Golden Gate Raptor community!