Notes from the artist, Matt Adrian: In 1878, millions of passenger pigeons nested near Petoskey, Michigan. For five straight months, 50,000 birds were slaughtered daily. In a fairly short amount of time, human beings decimated a species that once numbered in the billions and would block out the sun when flocks took to the sky. Artist Matt Adrian, through his paintings, hopes to shed light on the amazing and fragile diversity of birds.
About The Peregrine Fund: The Peregrine Fund has propagated and released Peregrine Falcons, accomplished the first successful release by hacking of Bald Eagles, helped save the Mauritius Kestrel from extinction, and more.
They are known as a common sense, elbow grease, no frills organization, which strives for lasting results in areas where they can make a definitive difference. One of these pragmatic yet visionary projects is their special focus on raptors in Madagascar, where they work to conserve habitat for the magnificent Madagascar Fish-Eagle.
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About The Peregrine Fund: The Peregrine Fund has propagated and released Peregrine Falcons, accomplished the first successful release by hacking of Bald Eagles, helped save the Mauritius Kestrel from extinction, and more.
They are known as a common sense, elbow grease, no frills organization, which strives for lasting results in areas where they can make a definitive difference. One of these pragmatic yet visionary projects is their special focus on raptors in Madagascar, where they work to conserve habitat for the magnificent Madagascar Fish-Eagle.
CLICK HERE to add this print to your cart and pay online, or CLICK HERE to pay by check.
ABOUT THE MADAGASCAR FISH-EAGLE
The Madagascar Fish-Eagle is a large diurnal (day-hunting) raptor now found only in a small portion of the west coast of the large island of Madagascar, which lies off the east coast of Africa. Their wingspan can reach an impressive 79in (200cm). Like the more famous Bald Eagle, the Madagascar Fish-Eagle has a pale colored head, which contrasts beautifully with it's darker brown body and short white tail.
The eagle's hunting and nesting ground are generally in mature forested areas adjacent to a body of water, most often the sea. As it's name suggests, the eagle preys mainly on fish, most especially in recent years on two introduced species of tilapia. It is a specialist hunter and the fish are caught by snatching them from the surface, rather than by plunge-diving.
Territorial pairs nest in the largest available tree from May-October. Due to siblicide (the process by where the largest and healthiest chick kills the other chicks) only one chick will be raised per breeding attempt. This low breeding-success rate adds to the threatened nature of this species, though it is not uncommon for predators to rear few offspring. It is only in an environment where the predator must compete with human beings that this becomes a disadvantage, rather than an important check on over-population.
The Madagascar Fish-Eagle is a highly threatened species, and human action will make the difference between survival and extinction for these magnificent birds. Surveys have tallied various population counts, due to the difficulty in finding all remaining nesting sites, with one recent survey recording 222 adults, another tallying 90 breeding pairs and another only 40, making this one of the rarest birds on Earth.
The Madagascar Fish-Eagle's survival is threatened by a variety of human activities. Areas of the eagle's habitat, especially vital wet-lands, are being rapidly developed mainly for rice paddies, resulting in soil erosion and deforestation. Commercial and local fishing puts the eagles in direct competition with human beings for food. Water pollution poses and additional threat, due to the sea eagles' reliance on fish bearing pollutants in their flesh, which then bio-accumulates at even greater levels in the eagles' systems. The species is also directly persecuted by people, via the taking of nestlings and shooting of adults, disturbance at breeding sites due to human activities --- and, according to local people, the use of eagle body parts in food and traditional Malagasy medicine.
It is suggested that what is needed to save this species is to increase awareness within local communities, aiming to reduce persecution and protect habitat around nest sites, to manage the wild population to increase population size and distribution in suitable habitat, and to investigate the factors limiting available breeding territories, survival rates, and breeding success.
With increasing knowledge and support, the magnificent and unique Madagascar Fish-Eagle has a good chance of meeting these goals --- and your purchase of this print can help!
The Madagascar Fish-Eagle is a large diurnal (day-hunting) raptor now found only in a small portion of the west coast of the large island of Madagascar, which lies off the east coast of Africa. Their wingspan can reach an impressive 79in (200cm). Like the more famous Bald Eagle, the Madagascar Fish-Eagle has a pale colored head, which contrasts beautifully with it's darker brown body and short white tail.
The eagle's hunting and nesting ground are generally in mature forested areas adjacent to a body of water, most often the sea. As it's name suggests, the eagle preys mainly on fish, most especially in recent years on two introduced species of tilapia. It is a specialist hunter and the fish are caught by snatching them from the surface, rather than by plunge-diving.
Territorial pairs nest in the largest available tree from May-October. Due to siblicide (the process by where the largest and healthiest chick kills the other chicks) only one chick will be raised per breeding attempt. This low breeding-success rate adds to the threatened nature of this species, though it is not uncommon for predators to rear few offspring. It is only in an environment where the predator must compete with human beings that this becomes a disadvantage, rather than an important check on over-population.
The Madagascar Fish-Eagle is a highly threatened species, and human action will make the difference between survival and extinction for these magnificent birds. Surveys have tallied various population counts, due to the difficulty in finding all remaining nesting sites, with one recent survey recording 222 adults, another tallying 90 breeding pairs and another only 40, making this one of the rarest birds on Earth.
The Madagascar Fish-Eagle's survival is threatened by a variety of human activities. Areas of the eagle's habitat, especially vital wet-lands, are being rapidly developed mainly for rice paddies, resulting in soil erosion and deforestation. Commercial and local fishing puts the eagles in direct competition with human beings for food. Water pollution poses and additional threat, due to the sea eagles' reliance on fish bearing pollutants in their flesh, which then bio-accumulates at even greater levels in the eagles' systems. The species is also directly persecuted by people, via the taking of nestlings and shooting of adults, disturbance at breeding sites due to human activities --- and, according to local people, the use of eagle body parts in food and traditional Malagasy medicine.
It is suggested that what is needed to save this species is to increase awareness within local communities, aiming to reduce persecution and protect habitat around nest sites, to manage the wild population to increase population size and distribution in suitable habitat, and to investigate the factors limiting available breeding territories, survival rates, and breeding success.
With increasing knowledge and support, the magnificent and unique Madagascar Fish-Eagle has a good chance of meeting these goals --- and your purchase of this print can help!
