Sharp-Tailed Finch

Joseph Bartholomew Kidd, after John James Audubon

National Gallery of Art

This painting shows three birds painted with detailed feathers in shades of brown, black, gray, white, and yellow. Closest to us, at the bottom of the painting, a bird is nestled in a straw nest on the ground. Slightly above that bird, another one is perched on a twig amidst tall green grass. Another twig rises from the grass towards the top of the painting, and on that twig the third bird is perched, its beak open. The birds are on a small area of grassy dirt on the right side of the painting, which is next to a wide, calm body of water that stretches to the horizon on the left side. The blue sky above them is full of white clouds.