The story of the bird
A Barn Swallow banking in flight, tail spread wide, on a single Audubon-style plate. A fitting gift for anyone who grew up around a farm or barn, or a lively accent for a porch, mudroom or kitchen.
The Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) breeds on six continents and returns to the same rafters, the same bridge, the same barn each April. No other swallow has spread itself so completely across the world. The deeply forked tail - three inches of outer feather beyond the inner web on a long male - is the field mark you see first as the bird banks past at eye level. The iridescent blue-black of the back shifts from blue to green to black at different angles in different light.
Below the chestnut throat band the cinnamon underparts glow against the pale ground. The swallow’s flight is a constant recalibration: it can turn inside the wingspan of any other bird in its range, taking insects on the wing in figure-eight arcs that cover an acre in seconds.
The Audubon plate shows the bird with wings half-folded at the peak of a banking arc, the forked tail spread against an empty cream ground. This is a working ornithological record that happens to be beautiful. The tail-fork is the definitive mark, shown at full extension.
Paper and finish
Unframed prints come on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308gsm, a heavyweight cotton rag with a soft matte surface and true archival life. The surface holds fine lines and subtle colour gradients without glare, which matters for Audubon-tradition work where the cream ground needs to read as paper, not as a white field. The framed option is set in a classic moulding, glazed and ready to hang, in black, white or natural.
Sizes
Three sizes: 8x10, 16x20 and 24x30 inches, or an instant digital download at $9. Prints from $39. Framed from $99.
