Posts in Category: Animal Profile
Peacocks and Interference Paints
A strikingly beautiful animal, everyone is familiar with the peacock. Peacocks, or more correctly peafowl, since “peacock” refers specifically to the male, are in the pheasant family and there are several species, which are native to Asia, India, and Africa. I’ve often seen them in zoos, roaming free around the grounds and they always seem to be popular with the visitors.
Their striking, iridescent feather colors are, like many birds, not due to pigments but to structural color. Structural color is a fascinating phenomenon where the regular, periodic nanostructure of the feathers cause optical interference in the light reflected off the feather structure. The spacing of the nanostructures determines the color that is seen. These interference effects and the resulting color depend on the angle of the light.
Structural color is also responsible for the unique effects of interference paints. Interference colors are created when light waves interact and cancel out some, but not all, of the colors that make up white light. In an interference paint, an effect called ‘color flop’ can be seen, where the color changes with the viewing angle.
If you haven’t had a chance to try these, I’d highly recommend it—they’re a lot of fun. Golden makes some nice acrylic interference colors, and typically a few of the colors can be found in the mainstream arts and crafts stores, though more can be found online. I used both interference gold
and interference blue
in this piece, though it’s difficult to see the full effect in a photo.
Have you tried interference colors? I bet they’d be perfect for creating the iridescent effect of peacock feathers! I don’t know why I’ve never tried that before. Comment below and let me know your experiences with interference colors.
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Animal Profile: Vulture
Vultures are scavenging birds of prey, typically with a bald, featherless head. Vultures are found on every continent except Australia and Antarctica. Most people in North America are familiar with the turkey vulture, which has a red head, or the black vulture, which is similar in appearance but has a black head. However, there are actually 23 different species of vulture!
Vultures are typically social animals and congregate in flocks, which are called a committee, a venue, or a volt. I flock of vultures in flight is called a kettle and when feeding together, they are, amusingly, called a wake.
Vultures have an excellent sense of sight and smell and feed almost exclusively on carrion. While they prefer fresh meat, they can actually eat meat that is so rotten that it is toxic to other animals. This is a result of the vulture’s stomach acid being much stronger than that of other animals—the acid kills any dangerous bacteria in the rotten meat, preventing the vulture from becoming sick.
I lived in southern Maryland for a while and there were always huge flocks of vultures hanging out in the farmlands I drove through to get to work every day. I’d see them sunning themselves on the roofs of the tobacco barns in the mornings and when the fields were being plowed and fertilized for planting, they’d follow the farm equipment down the field, ready to snatch up any ‘tasty’ treats that got turned up by the plows.
Have you seen any vultures in the wild? Do you have a favorite species? What do you see when you think of a vulture?
Animal Profile: Fox
What is a Fox?
The fox is a small to medium-sized member of the dog family (Canidae) with long fur and a bushy tail. The largest and most common species is the red fox, which is thought to be the most wide-spread carnivore in the world. Typically a reddish-brown color, with black legs and ears and a white-tipped tail, red foxes can also be found in other colors, including black and silver. They are about 3 feet long and weigh around 10-15 pounds. Highly clever and adaptive animals, foxes can thrive even in urban environments. I spent many nights watching foxes from my apartment when I lived in London!
Foxes in Folklore
Foxes appear in the folklore of many cultures, frequently in a ‘trickster’ role. For example, in Japanese folklore, the kitsune, or fox spirit, is described as an intelligent entity with paranormal abilities. Their wisdom and power are thought to increase with age and they have the ability to shapeshift between fox and human form. While they are sometimes cast as a trickster, other tales show kitsune as guardians, friends, lovers, or spiritual messengers.
As a trickster, the fox appears frequently in European folklore, from the Russian “Kuma Lisa” figure to Finnish and Scottish stories, the trickster fox is rarely evil or cruel. He is often paired in the tales with a more sinister wolf figure, which he outsmarts despite being weaker, representing the triumph of cunning and intelligence over brute strength. Foxes are also common in many Native American cultures though its role varies from culture to culture. In some Midwest and Plains cultures, the fox is seen as embodying wisdom and intelligence whereas in other native cultures, he is seen as a greedy thief. The fox is also a common clan animal in several Native American cultures, including the Hopi, Creek, and Menominee tribes.
The fox is also a popular ‘spirit animal,’ where it provides guidance on quickly finding your way around obstacles. Symbolically, the fox can be seen to represent increased awareness, cunning, the ability to see through deception, the ability to maneuver tricky situations and an affinity with nocturnal activities and dream work.
A beautiful and striking animal, the fox appears in many cultures and fulfills a variety of roles in tales and stories. Have you seen foxes in the wild? What does the fox represent for you? Is it a sinister trickster or a helpful guide?