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First Flight

Bronze, 1999

Dimensions: 13" H x 10" W x 7" D
Limited Edition of 50

This wall mount piece depicts a 28-day-old male red cockaded woodpecker making it’s first flight from the nest. The immature bird has a slightly larger head, a shorter body, and wears its red “cockade” on the top of its head instead of at the temples, as does the adult. A south-eastern bird, the red cockaded woodpecker is endangered due to society’s ever increasing need for paper, which is depleting the forests of long leaf pines. The woodpecker’s habitat is site specific, selecting pines that are usually seventy years or older, carrying a blight which softens the heart wood and creates an excessive sap, making it easier for the bird to feed.