#devil bird

I had named it Hades, but he's taken to referring to it as "Devil Bird" when it gets too close, so here we are. xD

The out-of-place anhinga, spotted in Maine. Doug Hitchcox

Excerpt from this story from Smithsonian Magazine:

A large water bird usually found in Central and South America and Florida recently made its way to Maine—and birders have been flocking for a chance to see the unusual visitor.

Last week, wildlife enthusiasts were surprised to find an anhinga resting on a log in Somerville, a small town in the south-central part of the state about 70 miles northeast of Portland.

Anhingas are conspicuous birds with long, slender necks and turkey-like tails. Though their feathers are not waterproof, they spend much of their time swimming and stabbing fish with their pointy bills. When they resurface, they clamber onto sun-bathed logs, rocks and other places, spread their wings and let the warmth dry their plumage.

The species’ striking aesthetic and eye-catching poses have earned it several nicknames over the years, including “water turkey” and “snake bird.” (Some onlookers have even compared anhingas to the fictitious Loch Ness monster.) Their name comes from the Indigenous Tupi people of Brazil, who called them “devil birds” or “evil spirit of the woods.”

Cryptid of the Day: Devil Bird

Made a sketchdump. I normally do not do sketchdumps because I like working on drawings to completion but I need to get more efficient with my drawing process and sketching/practicing is a good way to do that.

Effigy, requested by me, because once again, kinda got busy and didn’t have time to make something more complex. Seems the Devil Birds are good for these situations, hah.

Would like to see a particular Mortasheen monster in 3D? Send me a 3 bucks tip and I’ll see to it!

The Devil Bird, also known as the Ulama, is a former cryptid from Sri Lanka. 

The bird was reported to make human-like screams from the jungles of Sri Lanka overnight. In Sri Lankan folklore, the cries were said to be a death omen.