Sooty shearwater, 2020, oil on canvas, 30 x 40 cm
The sooty shearwater can dive 60 metres deep in the sea to hunt for squid, lobster and small fish. It spends most of its time in New-Zealand, Australia and parts of South America, including the breeding season. With strong winds, the sooty shearwater flies quicker than other sea birds and it has a more athletic look than other shearwaters.
The sooty shearwater was also the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds, when in 1961 a flight of thousands of birds flew over a bay in California, regurgitating fish, flying into objects and dying on the streets.