Thick-Billed Parrot Art

Another ACEO currently on eBay: "Arizona Native", a Thick-Billed Parrot. This drawing's on black scratchboard. I use an x-acto knife to scratch the detail into the dark surface.

The Thick-Billed Parrot, an endangered species, is the only parrot native to the US. They no longer live in their former range of Arizona and southwest New Mexico, but there are still small (and unfortunately dwindling) populations in North and Central Mexico. Loss of forest habitat is the main reason for the bird's decline.

I took my reference photo at the Sacramento Zoo, which is working nationwide with zoos and government agencies on a captive breeding program designed to reestablish populations of this parrot in its former US range. Click here for a fact-sheet on Thick-Billed Parrots and conservation efforts.

View the Thick-Billed Parrot art auction