Category: Uncategorized

​Oh dear, there are multiple species called “toroa” on this list, and I didn’t realise. Ok, let’s make sure that we get the differences between them really clear!

Consulting Wikipedia:
Current thinking divides the albatrosses into four genera. The number of species is a matter of debate. The IUCN and BirdLife International recognise 22 extant species (listed below), ITIS recognise 21 (the 22 below minus T. steadi), and one recent paper proposed a reduction to 13 (indicated in parentheses below), comprising the traditional 14 species minus D. amsterdamensis.

We have already covered the Antipodean albatross, aka toroa.
Today, we are looking at the Gibson’s wandering albatross/toroa, and we still also have to cover the Salvin’s albatross or mollymawk/toroa, too.

Based on the species information from NZ birds online article about the Antipodean albatross, pictured above, the Gibson’s albatross is actually a subspecies – and I have already drawn two birds with Gibson’s markings. 

DOC also lumps them together in their article – and given that we have so many birds to cover, we are going to call this one done (because it is!) and move on to the next. 

OK, so at first glance, this just looks like “a duck”. Like, a normal duck.

OK, yes, fair enough, it looks like a female “normal duck”, or mallard. The colour of the head is a bit lighter. And I’m not sure that I have noticed that cheeky flash of underwing colour on a “standard” (or mallard) duck. 

Aha, this might be why:

The New Zealand grey duck population is believed to be extensively hybridised with introduced mallards to such an extent that few pure grey ducks may now exist, hence its “critical” conservation status. While this presumption is based entirely on phenotype, as definitive genetic studies have yet to be undertaken, the diversity of soft part and plumage characteristics of most grey duck-like New Zealand birds compared to those in Australia lends support to this belief.
[…]
Similar species: grey ducks are easily confused with female mallard from which they can be distinguished by (the following distinctive markings of a mallard):

• bright orange legs and feet
• orange-and-brown bills
• more diffuse eye and bill stripes and mottled face
• a blue speculum edged with white both at front and back.

Hybrid grey x mallard ducks are confusingly variable in most characteristics and otherwise “good” grey ducks need to be examined closely for any indication of anterior speculum stripe (alar bar) on wing (white or fawn, narrow or wide…if it is visible it is probably of hybrid ancestry), hints of orange on legs, and “dirty” cream face with indistinct edges to the facial stripes.
Source:
NZ birds online (my formatting and editing)

OK, so what’s a speculum in this context?​ Oh, it’s the cheeky flash of colour on the wing!

So we need:

• olive legs and feet
• dark grey bill
• sharply-delineated eye and bill stripes, and a ‘clean’ face
• green speculum with white edging only at the back (the trailing or outer edge of the feather from the body of the bird).

Here’s an article from NZ Fish and Game with some more details about the differences between the two ducks, and some examples of types of hybrids. Warning – while there are no upsetting photos, this is intended for hunters, and uses some language that might upset some people. It is linked here only because of the useful information it contains.

​Another thing to note is that, while in New Zealand, this bird is called the grey duck or pārera, it is known internationally as the Pacific black duck.

So now that we have our ducks in a row, it’s time to start drawing ducks!

Last week was absolutely nuts, and unfortunately, several things came up that pushed out my ability to finish my duck design – so we are shooting for one-and-a-half designs today. Wish me luck!

I managed to do my research and get the initial outlines sketched out on Friday before things turned to custard and I had to put the design on hold, so today so far has been about choosing the final lines to draw, and filling in the feather detail. 

​I decided to do some really detailed feather work on these birds, as the reference photos were so crisp, so that took much longer than usual, as did the colouring of all those feathers.

Using reference photos, I tried to reflect the feather colours without compromising my ligne claire style – so no shading, or multiple hues within one outline. It meant re-colouring the same feathers several times to get the effect I wanted, and took a long time – but I eventually reached a stage that felt like a good balance between accuracy and my faithfulness to my type of stylised artwork.

Because the Gibson’s Wandering Albatross ended up being a duplicate, I did a bonus grey duck, so there are 5 today. 

OMG – the tokoeka is a Kiwi! How delightful! I really enjoy being a bit surprised by the subject of my design each day, so I research as I go. 

You can’t write about kiwi and not include this viral video.

Tokoeka – literally meaning ‘weka with a walking stick’ (Ngāi Tahu) – has three geographically and genetically distinct forms: 

Haast
Fiordland, and 
Rakiura (Stewart Island).

Haast tokoeka
A shy, mountain-loving bird, the Haast tokoeka is one of our rarest kiwi. More than half the known population lives in an actively managed area of the Haast ranges, where the battle continues to save these birds from extinction.
​Source:
DOC

The reclusiveness of Haast tokoeka makes it difficult to work with but so does the inhospitable environment in which it makes a home – the steep terrain and frequently cold, bad weather of the mountainous South Westland is not for everyone.

Most of the area in which Haast tokoeka are found is covered by the Haast Kiwi Sanctuary, where they are actively managed in situ and through Operation Nest Egg and a 12,000 ha stoat trapping programme.

Haast tokoeka are the first-equal endangered kiwi. Stoats are the main cause of death for many chicks. ​​
Source:
DOC

​Two subspecies are formally recognised: Fiordland tokoeka A. a. australis (Threatened/Nationally Vulnerable), and Stewart Island tokoeka A. a. lawryi (Threatened/Nationally Vulnerable). A third geographical form, Haast tokoeka A. a. ‘Haast’ (Threatened/Nationally Critical), from the Haast Range and Arawhata Valley, is recognised as being distinct for management purposes, based on morphological and genetic differentiation from Fiordland tokoeka.​
Source:
NZ birds online

So, DOC says that there are three sub-species, and NZ birds online says that there are only two, with the Haast tokoeka being only an administrative classification…

Wikipedia also recognises that there are two species, with the Hast population as genetically distinct.
The southern brown kiwi is divided into two subspecies:

A. a. australis, , with a population of approximately 7,000 birds is found on the South Island of New Zealand. A disjunct population, near Haast, called the Haast brown kiwi (not to be confused with Apteryx haastii), is rare (with only about 250 specimens left) and is characterised by its rufous plumage.
Source:
Wikipedia

Right, so in summary, there are 5 species of kiwi.

• ​One species, Apteryx australis, has two subspecies, Apteryx australis australis, and Apteryx australis lawryi. 
• Sub-species Apteryx australis australis includes a disjunct population, near Haast, called the Haast brown kiwi, or tokoeka, which is rare (with only about 250 specimens left) and is characterised by its rufous plumage.​

​And, ok, yeah, it looks pretty understandable that people looking for a kiwi (genus Apteryx) commonly known as the “Haast tokoeka” might think that the Apteryx haastii might be the right bird, especialiiy as it is found on the West Coast of the South Island, although it’s in the northern parts, rather than down south near Haast – the plot thickens!

​Oh, no it doesn’t. It’s just one of those weird coincidences:

In 1871, two specimens [of the great spotted kiwi] were brought to the Canterbury Museum, where they were identified as a new species and were named after the museum’s curator, Dr. Haast.
Source:
Wikipedia

This video includes a slightly awkward commentary, but it also includes a kiwi calling, so it’s pretty cool.

I have drawn kiwi plenty of times before, but never with as much attention to the anatomy of the bird. Kiwi have such a recognisable shape that there’s not much need for accuracy in order to convey that your drawing is a kiwi. 

This time around, I’m drawing “for realz”, so it’s time to really look at the anatomy of the kiwi.

And now, we start the sketches. First, I blocked out a few poses using a simplified skeleton, then I fleshed them out as outlines.

The outlines didn’t take long, but the feathers… The feathers took forever. You can still see the turquoise outlines under the final black lines, here.

And those feathers were a PAIN to colour – but they are done!

​There are quite a few species of parrot in New Zealand, some of which are sadly extinct. There are nine surviving species which are endemic to NZ. Two of these species are on our list of the Threatened–Nationally Critical birds to draw in this series (shown in bold). Sadly, several others are also endangered. 

These species live on the mainland:

• the kea (Nestor notabilis)
• the New Zealand kaka (Nestor meridionalis)
• the kākāpō (Strigops habroptilus) – Threatened–Nationally Critical
• three species of kākāriki:
  • the yellow-crowned parakeet (Cyanoramphus auriceps),
  • the red-crowned parakeet (Cyanoramphus novaezelandiae)
  • the orange-fronted parakeet (Cyanoramphus malherbi) – Threatened–Nationally Critical

​Source:
Wikipedia

​These are the island species:

• the Chatham parakeet or Forbes’ parakeet (Cyanoramphus forbesi), from the Chatham Islands
• the Antipodes parakeet (Cyanoramphus unicolor), endemic to Antipodes Island
• Reischek’s parakeet (Cyanoramphus hochstetteri), endemic to Antipodes Island

Source:
Wikipedia

Extinct endemic species:

• the Norfolk Island kaka (Nestor productus), extinct by 1851, from Norfolk Island
• the Chatham kaka (Nestor chathamensis),  extinct by 1550–1700, from the Chatham Islands
• Unidentified parakeet, extinct by 1840, from Campbell Island

Introduced Australian species:

• the eastern rosella (Platycercus eximius) – significant self-sustaining populations
• the sulphur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) – significant self-sustaining populations
• the crimson rosella (Platycercus elegans) – smaller numbers
• the Galahs (Eolophus roseicapilla) – smaller numbers
• the rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus) – ‘unwanted organism’ under the Biosecurity Act

Source:
Wikipedia

On the internet, ​kākāpō are famous for the notorious head-shagging incident when Stephen Fry met Sirocco on the BBC.  

(Sirocco is) a charismatic kākāpō, national treasure and media superstar. He’s also New Zealand’s official Spokesbird for conservation.​

Sirocco rocketed to fame in 2009 after his encounter with zoologist Mark Carwardine became a YouTube sensation. Carwardine was filming the BBC documentary Last Chance to See with British actor Stephen Fry. Footage showed a rather frisky Sirocco attempting to mate with Carwardine’s head as Fry laughed from the sidelines.
Source:
DOC

​The common English name “kakapo” comes from the Māori “kākāpō”, from kākā (“parrot”) + pō (“night”); the name is both singular and plural. “Kākāpō” is increasingly written in New Zealand English with the macrons that indicate long vowels.
[…]
The kakapo is the only extant species of flightless parrot in the world, and the only flightless bird that has a lek breeding system.[35] Males loosely gather in an arena and compete with each other to attract females. Females listen to the males as they display, or “lek”. They choose a mate based on the quality of his display; they are not pursued by the males in any overt way. No pair bond is formed; males and females meet only to mate.
Source:
Wikipedia

​The kakapo is a large, nocturnal, flightless, lek-breeding parrot – a real oddity. It is also critically endangered, and the focus of considerable conservation attention. Before humans arrived it was common throughout New Zealand’s forests, but predation by introduced mammals brought it to the brink of extinction – a low point of about 50 birds only in the mid 1990s. The transfer of the whole population to predator-free islands and intensive intervention in every stage of its life has led to a steady increase in numbers.

Kakapo have no close relatives.
Source:
NZ birds online

What’s unusual about kākāpō?
The kākāpō is a large green parrot with a distinctive owl-like face and a waddling gait. They cannot fly, but they climb well.

Kākāpō are:

• nocturnal
• flightless
• the only lek-breeding parrot species in the world
• perhaps the longest-lived bird species in the world, estimated to reach 90 years
• the heaviest parrot species in the world – smaller females weigh 1.4 kg, and males 2.2 kg. And they can pile on 1 kg of fat prior to a breeding season.

Source:
DOC

Right, time to focus in on the task at hand – drawing the kākāpō. So, how do they fit together?

The skeleton of the kakapo differs from other parrots in several features associated with flightlessness. Firstly, it has the smallest relative wing size of any parrot. Its wing feathers are shorter, more rounded, less asymmetrical, and have fewer distal barbules to lock the feathers together. […] The kakapo has a larger pelvis than other parrots. The proximal bones of the leg and arm are disproportionately long and the distal elements are disproportionately short.
Source:
Wikipedia

OK, so that was a lot of scientific jargon. Basically, little wings, fewer wing feathers, odd leg proportions, and not much of a chest. Got it.

I had a dental procedure under IV sedation today, so while I now have a shiny new tooth, I have spent the day groggy and weird – which is not, unfortunately, conducive to drawing parrots. I have a good idea of what I want to do, but no energy left to do it – so this is where I am stopping for the night. 

So I filled out the sketches, and decided that I would develop four into the final designs.

Choosing the colours was fun – and I made sure to keep the palette simple. 

It was a lot of fun getting the silly expressions on these funny wee faces. I think they came out ok, too!

Colouring feather by feather took a really long time, though – but I think it looks pretty effective. 

​A medium-sized storm petrel, grey above with prominent white rump, dark-grey flight feathers and tail, mainly white underparts, white face with a broad white stripe above the eye, a nearly square cut rather than forked tail when folded, and black legs and yellow webbing. In flight, the wings are broad and the long legs dangling; they move over water in a series of hops striking it with both legs.

Population: perhaps 100-300 pairs.
​Source:
NZ birds online​

The Kermadec storm petrel has been an enigma, only partly solved when a small breeding colony was discovered on the small and inaccessible Haszard Island in the Kermadec group in August 2006.

About 1890, storm petrels were said to be common at sea around the islands, and in 1907 two corpses were washed ashore on Raoul Island. In November 1925, 15 birds were shot at sea around the islands and from these the species was recognised as distinct and named. They were not recorded again until the 1960s and seen more frequently during the 1980s. Most of these records are close the Kermadec Islands but a group of 4 was seen 480 km off the Australian coast.

The inability to locate the breeding site led to the suggestion that they might be unusual Australian white-faced storm petrels rather than a distinct form, but the discovery of a colony of these distinctive birds has settled these doubts.
Source:
NZ birds online

The Kermadec Islands /kərˈmædɛk/ (Māori: Rangitāhua) are a subtropical island arc in the South Pacific Ocean 800–1,000 km (500–620 mi) northeast of New Zealand’s North Island, and a similar distance southwest of Tonga. The islands are part of New Zealand, 33.6 km2 (13.0 sq mi) in total area and uninhabited, except for the permanently manned Raoul Island Station, the northernmost outpost of New Zealand.
Source:
Wikipedia

Kermadec storm petrels look like and fly like a white-faced storm petrel, differing only in their rump colour. They are grey above with dark-grey flight feathers and tail; the under-surfaces are white, and there is a broad white stripe above the eye. The bill and legs are black with yellow webs on the feet. Their main distinguishing mark is a prominent white, rather than grey, rump, a nearly square cut rather than forked tail when folded,  and there a little less grey on the sides of the breast. When feeding they move with the same high bounding hops as the white-faced storm petrel.
Source:
​NZ birds online

There are very few images of these rare birds from which to work, so I have also looked at standard white-faced storm petrels to understand their types of pose and movement, then referred back to the few authenticated photos for their colouration.

That’s the drawing all done, time to colour them in!

There you go, tiny petrels. 

We recently attended one of our favourite markets of the year, the Wellington Polish Christmas Market. As we started ramping up to prepare for our end-of-year markets, I got inspired to do some designs focused around the delights of European food. 
I had just finished my fungi of the Pacific Northwest design, and I had also just joined “Show me your charcuterie” on Facebook, so the stars aligned for me to create one of my favourite designs this quarter.

Charcuterie (pronounced “CHAR-coo-t’ree” or “CHAR-coo-te-ree”, click here to listen), is the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, galantines, ballotines, pâtés, and confit, primarily from pork.
Source:
​Wikipedia

For this design, I worked from my own photos, experience, imagination, and a lot of research online.  ​I started with the sketch, which represents the pencil stage, then I overlay that sketch, changed to green, with plain black lines, which represent the ink stage.

​In the first image, below, I have created a diagonal grid texture (in green), which I then use in several of the different meats. 

That worked really well, so I created several more textured and used them to add variety to several of my other shapes.

Next, I used some basic colours to represent the different shades of brown, so that I can be sure to get a good dispersal across the different types of cured meats.

I use lime green to help me identify the areas that still need to be coloured. 

Right, all coloured – time to build a repeat! I made one that was just meat, and one that’s more of a charcuterie platter – it includes designs from my cheese design, and some extra fruit, olives, a couple of gherkins. 

What are the most important accompaniments to a good cured meat? BREADS, that’s what. 
The word “boulangerie” means a bakery in French, so it’s a good word to use for the accompanying design to charcuterie. Again, many of these are breads that I have seen, baked, and eaten myself. 

Same process here – “pencil” in green, then “pen” in black. 

Here’s an example of a tile layout before and after turning it into a proper repeat.

These two gorgeous scarves are still unsold at the time of posting – pop us a message through the page if you’re keen to grab one! Every one is unique, handmade, and only $50NZD plus p&p.

In Te Reo, the names of this bird are tara iti, tara teo, or tara teoteo. “Iti” and “teo” mean tiny. Repeating a syllable is often done in Māori as emphasis. “Tara” means tern, but it also has a lot of other meanings. I like the idea of it being a tiny sharp thing. 

These photos of courting tara iti come from the New Zealand Fairy Tern Charitable Trust Facebook page. As with all my other posts, click on the link or the photos to go through to the source site.

The New Zealand fairy tern/tara iti is probably New Zealand’s rarest breeding bird, with a population of around 45 individuals that includes approximately 12 breeding pairs.
It is ranked as an endangered species, and carries a ‘Category A’ priority for conservation action. A Department of Conservation Recovery Plan is currently in action.

The New Zealand fairy tern is the smallest tern breeding in New Zealand, and the oldest known fairy tern was 18 years old.
​
Records from the 19th century suggest that NZ fairy terns used to be widespread around the coast of the North Island and eastern South Island, but were not abundant in any one area.
Source:
DOC

New Zealand fairy terns are now confined to the lower half of the Northland Peninsula. Breeding is limited to four regular sites: Waipu, Mangawhai, Pakiri and the South Kaipara Head.

Nesting in a small scrape in the sand, these delicate sea birds are very vulnerable. Nest sites are roped off and signs erected to alert people to the area.
Source:
DOC

A small tern with pale grey upperparts, white underparts, a yellow-orange bill, and bright orange legs. A black cap covers the crown and nape extending forward to surround the eye, forming an irregular patch in front of it, but never reaching the bill; a rounded white ‘notch’ projects into the black cap above the eye and connects with the white forehead.
Source:
NZ birds online

I’m pretty familiar with this general shape of bird now, so these wee beasts were a quick sketch. Getting the eyes and the feet right was the challenge, as usual.

Linework – sorted. Time to colour the birds! Again, I used a mixture of photo references and previous designs, to ensure colour consistency across the range but to still stay quite true to the real colouration of the bird, too.

There you go, have a tara iti design!

In New Zealand, we really only have one major “holiday” a year – Christmas. Even though a great many New Zealanders do not identify as Christians, it’s still a holiday that many of us celebrate. 
At Copper Catkin HQ, we are a secular household who love to decorate the tree and exchange gifts – particularly when they give us an opportunity to purchase from other small businesses – and we begin planning and shopping for our gifts towards the middle of the year. 

2018 was supposed to be our last Xmas in NZ, so we went all out – here’s a small selection of gifts we gave, because I really enjoy looking at them again.

My mum collects ornaments for their tree, so it’s the souvenir of choice when we travel, or when we visit Xmas markets. 

​One thing that we (well, I) really hate is when it’s time to put the tree away – so this range of decorations is designed to be suitable all year round. There’s nothing religious, and nothing seasonal – you can use them anywhere, any time. 
Here’s how we designed them.

I started with the idea of my popular designs as a starting point, but simplified to suit the laser-cutting requirements.

At this point, I handed the concept over to El Huz, who developed the images into vectors, then into between one and three of the following options:

1. a solid piece, with an engraved motif
2. a solid piece, with a motif carved out of the centre
3. a solid central motif, joined to a circular frame

We sent off a test file to Atomik Laser, who cut our previous laser-cut-designs, to have them recommend a suitable material, based on their experience, and give us a quote. They recommended acrylic, and we chose clear as the range of colours available in NZ is frankly disappointing. 

This is how we received the sheet, with the protective coating still in place.

They actually look fantastic once they are all peeled and cleaned up – I am really excited to launch these tomorrow!

Kakii, or black stilt, is a native wading bird only found in New Zealand. It is regarded by Maaori as a taonga species, a living treasure.
Source:
DOC

Once the common stilt of New Zealand, the black stilt is now critically endangered with a breeding population confined to the Mackenzie Basin of South Canterbury and North Otago. Adults are distinctive in having entirely black plumage, long red legs and a thin black bill, but juveniles and subadults can easily be overlooked amongst pied stilts, while hybrids add to the plumage confusion. Black stilts frequent the wide open braided rivers and associated wetlands of the Mackenzie Basin. There they favour shallow waters of invertebrate-rich sidestreams and pools, wading out into deep water if necessary. Some birds migrate to northern New Zealand harbours.
Source:
NZ birds online

Yup, this is another bird with one of those complicated neck situations – not as weird as the bittern, or matuku, but certainly a little more challenging than the adorable wee Chatham Islands black robin.

The process is definitely getting easier and faster – I can already crank out the types of poses I want to draw quite fast, then build the actual birds over the top with reference to photos and video. 
One thing that struck me, though, when I pasted in yesterday’s Chatham Islands black robin so that I could keep the colours consistent, was that the scale of these birds is not consistent. 

As an experiment, I increased the size of my initial â€‹kakÄ« sketches to a more realistic relationship between the 40cm stilts and the 15cm black robins, but then, I realised that the bitterns should be around 75cm tall (I assume, at full stretch), and as for the albatross… It wasn’t looking like an easy fix to address now, especially with so many remaining designs to finish. So, I will continue to create the images at a scale that MS Paint can handle (it crashed when I tried to work on the 4x larger file), and scale them all to each other at the end, when I do the final colouring, too. 
Perhaps I will vectorise them, perhaps I will just re-draw the ones that are going into the final “advent calendar” design. We shall see!

It’s really helpful to already have the plumage colours set, so I don’t have to spend ages worrying about that for now, so all I needed to do was choose a shade for the legs and beaks, then make some decisions from the range of colours I have already set for black birds. Again, everything goes much faster when the decisions have already been made!

I am definitely not the only one paying attention to the plight of our local species. Many other creatives in the craft community do a lot to raise awareness, and even funds, to help a particular bird.
One of my favourite Kiwi bird artists is Melissa Boardman. Here is her take on the kakÄ«, which is the design that I am working on today. 

​Our styles are very different, which I really enjoy, and she shares a great many of her own photos of birdlife, as well, which has helped me get to know so many lovely birds, and pay attention when I am out and about myself.
​So, of course, I had to get myself some of her work!

I hope my kakī artwork measures up!

It’s so difficult, and overwhelming, when you think of how many creatures need our help.

One way to help the wildlife of New Zealand is to donate to Forest and Bird, who run the Bird of the Year competition.

Another option is to check out the individual organisations dedicated to a particular bird. I try to share some of their posts in these blogs, so click through and see what they are up to and what you can do to help.

There is also a section on the DOC article for each bird about how you can help. Here is an example for the black stilt/kakī:

• Do not drive in riverbeds from August to December.
• Birds swooping, circling or calling loudly probably have nests nearby. Move away so they can return to them, or their eggs and chicks could die.
• Watch The Black Stilt documentary on NZ on Screen
• Keep updated on the KakÄ« Recovery Programme on their Facebook page
• Visit the Isaac Conservation and Wildlife Trust website
• Learn about Project River Recovery
• Visit the Te Manahuna Aoraki website

As I discussed in my introduction post for “a bird a day“, I am leaning heavily on online resources to draw these very rare and endangered birds.  

We have some fantastic websites available to help us understand more about our wildlife here in Aotearoa – please take the time to read about these birds in more detail at the links provided!

The Antipodean albatross is a large albatross that varies in colour from black-and-white to chocolate brown depending on sex, age and race. They breed almost exclusively on the Auckland and Antipodes Islands and forage over the continental shelf edge and deep water from south of West Australia to the coast of Chile, but are most common in the Tasman Sea and over the Chatham Rise east of New Zealand. Since 2003 a few pairs have started breeding on the Chatham Islands.

Antipodean albatrosses are closely related to the wandering, Tristan and Amsterdam albatrosses, and more distantly related to the northern and southern royal albatrosses.
Source:
NZ birds online

​My first step was to try to understand seabird anatomy, so I did that in two phases.

First, to understand the flow of the toroa’s body, I picked some photos in a variety of poses and straight-up traced them, to help me identify the areas where I had questions.

​Second, I looked at some albatross skeletons, and eventually got a good enough idea of wing and leg articulations, and the details of the head and beak structure, that I felt confident enough to proceed.

I sketched out some shapes that I liked, then filled in the details with reference to photos. 

I decided to standardise the colouration in a form of greyscale, so that I can do final colours at the end of the process, so all the feathers will be in tones of the two standard grey shades in MS Paint. The beaks are coloured in shades of standard colours, too.

​I am calling this one done – for now.