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The House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) is native to much of Eurasia but is far more widely distributed, with populations having been established here in North America, where it is very widely found, Austrasia, including New Zealand, and Africa, and other regions. Not surprisingly, it has diverged into about a dozen geographically distinct subspecies of which the nominate was the one introduced to North America in 1852, from which it has spread to the subarctic south to Panama. My second story studio window overlooks a weeping mulberry tree at the front of the house where I hang two bird feeders each winter. They attract large numbers of House Sparrows, who I enjoy looking at as I work on my art.. This painting shows a typical group of them on a bleak, February afternoon. When I was a kid they were more often called the English Sparrow. The painting is 24 by 18 inches, in oils on compressed hardboard. $1400.

Renowned Canadian bird artist, writer, naturalist, and conservationist, Barry Kent MacKay has “always been an admirer of birds, anxious to see them, paint them, and care for them.” Barry’s biological and ecological accuracy has put him in demand for commissions, to illustrate books, scientific journals and various print and digital media. He has painted birds and other wildlife from around the world, often life size, working in oils, watercolours, and acrylics. He prefers to sell original art, and keeps prices low. “Actual, original art should be affordable for middle class buyers,” he says. “I avoid having to depend on selling reproductions so that the market does not dictate what I paint, which can often be little-known...