59. Raymond Ching
Ruppells Griffen Vulture
Watercolour
60 x 45 cm
Signed
est. $15,000 - 25,000
Fetched $15,000
Relative Size: Ruppells Griffen Vulture
Relative size

Provenance:
Private Collection, Northland International Art Centre, 1998 Original label affixed verso

Illustrated:
p. 161 Studies & Sketches of a Bird Painter, Paintings drawings and text by Raymond Ching, Lansdowne Editions, Melbourne, 1981

Ruppell's Griffon Vulture Gyps rueppelli is a native of Africa. A large bird, its size and impressive threat display enable it to compete successfully for carrion with most other predators. Considerable numbers of these birds may gather around a carcass, fighting and jostling for position. Such a group, on occasion, can devour a quite large animal in little more than an hour. After feeding heavily, the birds sometimes experience difficulty in rising from the ground. The species is gregarious and, in addition to feeding socially, may roost and nest communally. The nest is a flimsy construction of sticks, arranged on a rocky cliff, within which a single white egg is laid. (Exceptionally, there may be two.) The chick spends over three months in the nest. Text: Studies & Sketches of a Bird Painter, Paintings, drawings and text by Raymond Ching, Lansdowne Editions, Melbourne, 1981 Ruppell's Griffon Vulture's can fly as high as 36,000 feet, the highest of any bird and the same as a passenger airline.

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