#tchagra jamesi

[birdstudies]

March 20, 2020 - Three-streaked Tchagra (Tchagra jamesi)

Found in parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, these bush-shrikes inhabit semi-desert areas, savannas, and shrubland. They eat mostly insects, but may sometimes prey on the chicks of other bird species. Little is known about their nesting behavior, though they breed mostly between March and July, depending on the area of their range.

[namu-the-orca]

Here’s something fun from a good while back: the first of an intended series of little bird animations, which of course stranded as soon as this one was done. Who knows, I may pick it up again one day! I still have the list of candidate species saved on my laptop. Animation is something I’ve dabbled in over the years, making one every now and then. I’d love to do them more often and actually get better. It just takes such a godforsaken long time to do. Which was exactly the point of this little loop, to see if it could be done in a slightly more humane timeframe, while keeping an agreeable style of minimalistic realism.

End result: learned of a new bird species - the Three-streaked tchagra, which is far more handsome in real life than I gave them credit for in my animation -, had some ‘aha’ moments about technique and ended up with an animation I am pretty chuffed about, even more so when I squint at it from a good distance away.

Here’s to hopefully more animations in the future!