Details: 2009, pen and coloured pencil on toned paper, 25 x 20 cm, print available.
Description: As he considered the feng shui of placing his new prize in the south-west corner with an expert interior decorator's eye, Barry again toasted his own good luck and ingenuity. He'd hit the jackpot. To a satin bowerbird, blue was always the new black*, and males adorned their 'bower', an avenue constructed of sticks, with various blue objects to create an effect irresistible to the critical tastes of females. Other males were content with blue feathers, berries and the curious plastic thingamabobs left by bushwalkers. Barry could scarcely believe no-one had thought of plundering the biggest blue thing there was- he put it down to sheer genius on his part. The other animals wouldn't mind if he took just a few scraps, would they? After all, there was plenty to go around.
*Indeed, it was generally accepted that there had never been a black to start with, though some scholars argued for the existence of a navy blue at some point in time.
Background information: Satin bowerbirds (those not occupied with sky-snatching) collect yellow as well as blue objects. They also crush up berries and, using either their beak or a chewed-up twig as a brush, paint the walls of their bower, which is far more neatly constructed than this image would suggest. Bowerbirds are closely related to the spectacular birds of paradise; both groups of birds have their stronghold in New Guinea with numerous species also found throughout Australia and south-east Indonesia.
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