The main reference for this sketch was the Piping Plover plate from John James Audubon’s Birds of America. Audubon is the namesake for the Audubon Society, and among the many achievements of his career as a naturalist was this book. It included over 400 life-sized illustrations of North American birds! High resolution images of each plate are available for download on the site for free (I will definitely be doing more of these!).

Piping plovers are classified as “Near-Threatened” by the IUCN, and are the subject of several conservation programs. If you’re interested at all, I recommend reading a little about them and seeing how you can contribute!