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Watercolor, 31″ x 23″, on Legion Special Handmade, rough 300lb:

Price: $10,000

The Mackinder’s eagle owl (Bubo capensis mackinderi)

About MacKinder’s Eagle Owls

The Kenyan, or Mackinder’s eagle owl, is a subspecies of the eagle owl. Mackinder’s eagle owls in central Kenya are generalist predators capable of exploiting an agricultural niche that is devoid of most other

Research by Simon Thompsett of the Kenya Bird Of Prey Trust has shown that the owls consume a wide variety of prey, 87% mammals, 7% birds and 5% insects.  Farming practices are influencing both prey selection and abundance of Mackinder’s eagle owls.  Owls respond to numerical fluctuations in small mammals and may play an important role in controlling farm pests.

Diet diversity of this population of owls is high and this may have negative long-term consequences for owl productivity and some farming practices continue to threaten this population, particularly the poisoning of owl prey with pesticides.

Range Map of the MacKinder’s Eagle Owl

About the MacKinder’s Eagle Owl at KBOP

About the Painting

Reference:

I saw the MacKinder’s on a trip to the trust and was impressed by its sheer bulk and presence, though he was a bit camera shy, so I resorted to Getty images for a stock photo as my core reference.

Paper:

I used Lanaquarelle 300 lb rough, from Legion Paper, after testing 7 different high-end watercolor papers to see which best suited my techniques of large, smooth gradient washes, wet-on-wet, deliberate blooms, seas salt application, multiple layers of glazing and spot lifting.

Paints

I used David Smith Extra Fine Watercolors: Burnt Umber; Raw Sienna; Burnt Sienna Light, Yellow Ochre; Naples Yellow, Alvarro Caliente Grey, Paynes Grey and Prussian Blue, and for eyes, Chromium Yellow Light, Cadmium Orange and Rose Madder. For the deep purple background, Winsor & Newton Artists Gouache: Prussian Blue; Alizarin Crimson; Payne’s Grey and Burnt Umber

The painting took approx. 100 hours over one and a half busy weeks

IUCN Red list

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, a global standard for assessing the extinction risk of species, lists the Mackinder’s Eagle Owl as “Least Concern”, but several Kenyan Owl species are threatened with extinction, particularly the Sokoke Scops Owl (Otus ireneae), which is listed as :Globally Endangered.

Kenya Bird of Prey Trust

Our Mission

Our mission is to secure healthy raptor populations in Kenya.​ To achieve this we need to protect critical raptor habitats, manage and restore raptor populations and educate people on the value and importance of raptors

What we do

The Kenya Bird of Prey Trust strives to work with partners to actively manage raptors in their natural environment, to understand raptor ecology and movements better,, to restore populations through rescue and rehabilitation, and to educate people in order to limit raptor persecution. With the permission and partnership of the Kenya Wildlife Service, we are responsible for the care of  a variety of raptors in two raptor centres.

Our Programmes:

Rescue and Rehabilitation

Education and Capacity Building

Monitoring and Research

More than half of the world’s raptor species have declining populations and nearly 20% are threatened with extinction. The need to monitor raptors and understand the threats they face is therefore as pressing now as ever.

The Global Raptor Impact Network (GRIN) was created by expanding the African Raptor DataBank globally and combining it with The Peregrine Fund’s Global Raptor Information Network—all in an effort to monitor and conserve the world’s raptors. GRIN gives raptor researchers tools to more efficiently conduct their own studies while contributing to a global program. 

The database of raptor sightings held by GRIN already exceeds 200,000 entries, thanks largely to help from raptor researchers, bird-watchers, and bird atlassing projects. It is designed to use all different types of raptor observations, from road counts, foot transects, and static count data through to satellite tracks, mortality incidents, and museum data. GRIN’s database is coordinated through The Peregrine Fund and managed by Habitat Info.

In Kenya specifically the Peregrine Fund focuses on

Cape eagle-owl

Sokoke scops owl

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS)

As Kenya’s most eminent national wildlife conservation agency, we commit ourselves to providing leadership in wildlife conservation and management.

We manage the fundamentally undiscovered, pristine and undisturbed, Mwea National Reserve – an oasis of calm and tranquility in a populous landscape. 

It shelters two rare bird species; Pel’s fishing owl and the white-backed night heron. It is the only protected reserve in which the globally threatened and Kenya-endemic Hinde’s Babber is found.

The Owls Trust

While not based in Kenya, The Owls Trust is working with SOFAfrica in Kenya to raise awareness about owls and their role in pest control. 

 
 

The male Mackinder’s rescued by Kenya Bird Of Prey Trust was discovered tangled in horticultural plastic and had poked its eye out. It is comfortably housed next to some verreux eagle owls in their Naivasha sanctuary, and is begrudgingly tolerant of human interaction (as opposed to a verrueax, raised from a chick, which has become part of the human family at the trust.

The Taita Thrush

(Turdus helleri), is a very scarce bird (the rarest bird in Kenya), and is endemic to the Taita Hills of southeast Kenya. recent assessments suggest dramatic and rapid decrease in population – which probably ranges between 500 and 1,000 individuals, and is restricted to just four forest fragments, two of which support only 2-3 pairs each.

About the painting

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Like 99% of bird watchers and 99.9% of bird painters, I have never laid eyes on this most elusive subject. Very few photos (around a dozen in total) have been taken so I had to combine reference images with the olive thrush, the Taita’s nearest relative in appearance. I wanted to offset its striking plumage and capture its elusiveness by showing it in flight, flitting across a typical Taita Hills rainforest rock face, the whole image accented by typical rainforest leaves, dappled in dew. The cast shadow took a lot of thought and even some 3D modeling and light-casting to get right, but it adds a sense of movement and dimension to the piece.

25% of all proceeds from Taita thrush art and merchandise is donated to Nature Kenya, a grass roots natural history organization that commits resources to prevent extinctions and to monitor nand map endangered bird life in the region. They, and a collective of organizations, such as Taita Taveta Wildlife Conservancies Association, Kenya Wildlife Service and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, not only work to identify and support breeding pairs, but are active in community empowerment and education projects to enroll smallholders in viable alternatives to deforestation from farm expansion and illegal logging. With government and NGO support they run innovative capacity-building initiatives and have earned the trust and cooperation of communities they work with. But bird habitats are still diminishing month by month and this species is on the cusp of extinction. So, maybe buy your partner and parents a couple of hoodies, sweatshirts or T’s, and think about sending a couple of beautiful Taita thrush posters as Xmas gifts this year!

Meet your new go-to hoodie! It isn’t just eco-friendly—it’s also ridiculously soft and effortlessly cool. With a relaxed fit that’s perfect for lounging or getting things done, and a light suede finish that feels like a dream, you’ll want to wear it everywhere. The ribbed cuffs and kangaroo pocket add just the right amount of structure and street style.

• 80% organic cotton, 20% recycled polyester
• Fabric weight: 10.3 oz./yd.2 (350 g/m2)
• Soft, light suede finish
• Relaxed fit
• Durable 2 × 2 ribbed cuffs and hem
• Kangaroo pocket for style and convenience
• The fabric of this product is certified by GRS (Global Recycled Standard), OCS (Organic Content Standard), and GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard)
• Blank product sourced from Bangladesh

This product is made especially for you as soon as you place an order, which is why it takes us a bit longer to deliver it to you. Making products on demand instead of in bulk helps reduce overproduction, so thank you for making thoughtful purchasing decisions!

Age restrictions: For adults
EU Warranty: 2 years

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