news release

Pelican Island Audubon has received a donation of a beautiful bronze sculpture of a Swallow-tailed Kite by the nationally known sculpture/artist, Cathy K. Ferrell, from William B. [Tuck] Ferrell, President of Ferrell Real Estate Enterprises Inc. This sculpture of an important annual visitor to our county will add to our wonderful collection of bird art at the Audubon House.  Cathy, who lives with her family in Vero Beach, has an expressionistic and impressionistic style, reminiscent of the sculptures of Degas and Bugatti that captures the essence of her subject in a pleasing and joyful way.  Her works range in size from a few inches to monumental, some 14 feet tall. The donated sculpture measures 17 by 14 by 16 inches.  The sculpture will inspire our 5^th grade Audubon Advocates and adults who visit, study and draw birds at Audubon House.

Cathy holds an MA in sculpture from the University of Miami. Her work is represented in private and public collections in the United States, Europe, and the Bahamas. She is the recipient of many awards and grants for her art over the decades from the National Sculpture Society, Salmagundi Club, Pen and Brush, Audubon, American Artists Professional League, Academics Artists of America, and the first Roger Tory Peterson Institute award for outstanding depiction of nature. 

The Swallow-tailed Kite shows extraordinary aerial skills as it darts, dives and twists this way and that with a slight tilt or flick of its forked tail, enabling it to reverse direction as it catches insects in the air.  Swallow-tailed Kites migrate from their South American wintering sites in early March-April to our swamps, lowland forests and marshes to nest at the top of high pine trees (Baker, J.N., 2019. Florida Birds Exposed).