TITLE: On Your Shore
YEAR: 2021
MEDIUM: Coloured pencil and acrylic on watercolour paper
SIZE: 740 X 618 X 90MM
 
The Royal Spoonbill/kōtuku-ngutupapa (Platalea regia) one of six spoonbill species worldwide. As well as New Zealand, they can also be found in Australia, Indonesia, New Guinea and some Pacific Islands.
Their habitats centre mainly around estuaries, rivers and harbours, and also on steep rocky headlands, often close to white herons and shags.
 
Says artist Nikki McIvor
“A day was spent out photographing these beautiful birds around one of my favourite places in New Zealand – the Pāuahatanui Wildlife Reserve. Nestled in a viewing hide, I could watch the spoonbills, huddled together braving the cold, their plumage dancing in the wind. “