Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Image 1 of 1
Ranthambhore National Park, Rajasthan, late afternoon, on one of the small lakes inside the park. The water had gone a flat dark grey, and an Oriental darter was up on a stump at the edge of it with its wings held fully open — around 3½ feet (1.1 m) across — drying. It's an attitude the bird holds for many minutes at a time, and one that gives an almost symmetrical shape against an empty background.
Most waterbirds float high and stay dry. The darter does neither. Its outer feathers are structured to let water in rather than shed it, so the plumage soaks through on every dive; the bird loses buoyancy and hangs low in the water, often with nothing but the neck and head showing — which is where the name snakebird comes from. That wettability is what makes it an underwater hunter rather than a surface one, and the cost is that it cannot fly efficiently until it has dried out, hence the spread wings. It hunts by spearing rather than seizing, and the neck carries a hinge at the eighth vertebra that folds back and releases like a trigger to drive the bill through a fish.
TruLife Acrylic — The fullest rendering of this image: full glossy-acrylic depth with a museum-grade anti-reflective surface, so the flat dark water stays a surface rather than a mirror and the bird holds the frame. Beyond the anti-reflective surface it carries superior UV protection and scratch resistance, the most durable of the acrylic options as well as the fullest.
Also available in: Standard Acrylic version · ChromaLuxe Metal version · Gallery Metal version · Fine Art Paper version
Made to order · Allow 3–5 weeks for production and delivery · Shipping charged at cost, never marked up · Shipping & Returns
The watermark shown here protects the online image only. Your print arrives clean.
Ranthambhore National Park, Rajasthan, late afternoon, on one of the small lakes inside the park. The water had gone a flat dark grey, and an Oriental darter was up on a stump at the edge of it with its wings held fully open — around 3½ feet (1.1 m) across — drying. It's an attitude the bird holds for many minutes at a time, and one that gives an almost symmetrical shape against an empty background.
Most waterbirds float high and stay dry. The darter does neither. Its outer feathers are structured to let water in rather than shed it, so the plumage soaks through on every dive; the bird loses buoyancy and hangs low in the water, often with nothing but the neck and head showing — which is where the name snakebird comes from. That wettability is what makes it an underwater hunter rather than a surface one, and the cost is that it cannot fly efficiently until it has dried out, hence the spread wings. It hunts by spearing rather than seizing, and the neck carries a hinge at the eighth vertebra that folds back and releases like a trigger to drive the bill through a fish.
TruLife Acrylic — The fullest rendering of this image: full glossy-acrylic depth with a museum-grade anti-reflective surface, so the flat dark water stays a surface rather than a mirror and the bird holds the frame. Beyond the anti-reflective surface it carries superior UV protection and scratch resistance, the most durable of the acrylic options as well as the fullest.
Also available in: Standard Acrylic version · ChromaLuxe Metal version · Gallery Metal version · Fine Art Paper version
Made to order · Allow 3–5 weeks for production and delivery · Shipping charged at cost, never marked up · Shipping & Returns
The watermark shown here protects the online image only. Your print arrives clean.