Kori Bustard

The commission was changed from a "day of the dead" box to more of a "Misfits" box by the commissioner. I managed to get a crimson ghost like skull done last night. Have you ever noticed what an absurdly large lower jaw the Misfits logo has? I guess I'd never really thought about it.

Art goal for the week at 18hrs

today

-get approval on skull

-cast skull in silicone?/fix skull?

-work on dragon

Animal

The kori bustard (Ardeotis kori) is a large mostly terrestrial omniverious bird from east and south Africa. They or the similar great bustard are the heaviest birds capable of flight at around 42lbs. The National Zoo has one that was fairly entertaining it came up and checked us out then decided to show us what a badass he was and tried to scare Stuart and I away with a threat display. The can inflate their necks in an odd manner, they usually use this for "ballon" displays during the breeding season, but the one we saw also seemed to incorporate it into his threat display. They seem to be kind of aggressive based on all of the you tube video of them chasing warthogs and impala around. In the wild bee eaters will ride around on the back of kori bustards to benefit from the insects they stir up. Kori bustards do not have a gland for preening so they take dust bathes to maintain their feathers and they have no hind toe so can not perch in trees.

A video of a Kori Bustard chasing impalas

Picture of a Kori Bustard being ridden by a bee eater

Picture of a male Kori bustard with it's neck fully inflated

Kori bustard chicks