Standard and Pennant Wing Nightjars (Original)
Artist: Bernard Long
Medium: Watercolour on Board
Size: 6" x 14" (140mm x 360mm)
Date: 1983
Code: LongNightJars
This is the unique original Watercolour painting by Bernard Long.
The adult male Standard Wing Nightjar has a bizarre and unusual wing ornament during the breeding season which consists of a broad central flight feather on each wing elongated to 38 cm, much longer than the bird's body. 20 cm or more of this is bare shaft.
In normal flight, these feathers trail behind, but in display flight they are raised vertically like standards. The male Pennant Wing Nightjar is characteristic in having a broad white band over the otherwise black primaries. In addition the males acquire a striking 2nd primary feather during the breeding season. These pennants grow to greater lengths in successive years, up to twice the body length. They are dropped or broken off quickly upon completion of breeding. With the distal (9th) and proximal (1st - 3rd) primaries being longest, the wings of male birds are distinctly angular.
A detailed and colourful watercolour painting from the publication Strange and Curious Creatures, written by Rupert Oliver and illustrated by Bernard Long. 1984.
- Artist Biography
Bernard Long (born 1926)
Bernard Long was an accomplished British book illustrator and comic book artist. Long was a contributor to Jack & Jill, drawing the light-hearted adventures of Fliptail the Otter in around 1970, and to the Jack & Jill and Teddy Bear annuals. He was an extraordinarily talented and reliable contributor to many Amalgamated Press/ Fleetway/ IPC titles and the Young Telegraph during the 1990s.
He was an exceptionally good nature artist and it seems very likely he contributed to various educational magazines as well as nursery comics. It is thought that he contributed to Look and Learn in the late 1960s and back page artwork for Fun-To-Do in later years, for which information I should thank David Slinn, who recalls that Long was "quietly efficient, very reliable and, as a result, somewhat taken for granted."
His extensive bibliography includes:
Prehistoric Animals, by Rupert Oliver (London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1982 ISBN 0-340-27165-5)
Prehistoric Man, by Rupert Oliver (London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1983 ISBN 0-340-28608-3)
Dinosaurs, by Rupert Oliver (London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1983 ISBN 0-340-28609-1)
Strange and Curious Creatures, by Rupert Oliver (London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1984 ISBN 0-340-34718-X)
Monster Mysteries, by Rupert Matthews (Hove, Wayland, 1988 ISBN 1-85210-354-X)
Lost Treasures, by John Wright (Hove, Wayland, 1989 ISBN 1-85210-357-4)
Victorian Children, by Anne Steel (Hove, Wayland, 1989 ISBN 1-85210-816-9)
Egyptian Farmers, by Jim Kerr (Hove, Wayland, 1990 ISBN 1-85210-906-8)
The First Settlements, by Rupert Matthews (Hove, Wayland, 1990 ISBN 1-85210-769-3)[1]
Greek Cities, by Barry Steel (Hove, Wayland, 1990 ISBN 1-85210-778-2)
Plague and Fire, by Rhoda Nottridge (Hove, Wayland, 1990 ISBN 0-7502-0048-0)
Forests, by Michael Chinery (London, Kingfisher, 1992 ISBN 0-86272-915-7)
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