California Scrubjay

According to the artist, "These raucous birds arrive at my Santa Barbara feeder in flocks. They shoo away sparrows and house-finches and carry off mouthfuls of sunflower seeds." The composition features a close-up view of a blue Scrub-Jay set against a clean white background. Morhardt employed acrylic paint and meticulous brushwork to capture intricate details of the bird. He notes that "This one had only got two seeds so far, but had more before he departed with a hop and a screech."