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Noel William Cusa (1909-1990) In 1967, after a career in industry, Noel William Cusa became a successful bird artist. Living on the Norfolk coast he had ample opportunity to develop his ornithological interests. Cusa's distinctive style of painting birds quickly brought him to the attention of the editors of Birds, the popular magazine of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). He produced the cover designs for several issues starting in 1967. He also painted eight attractive bird charts for the RSPB in 1967. Other work was reproduced in books, including Birds and Islands (1991), New Zealand Endangered Species (1980) and Flight of the Storm Petrel (1983) by R. M. Lockley. Cusa also wrote a biographical memoir on his contemporary, C. F. Tunnicliffe, another British bird artist, in Tunnicliffe's Birdlife (1985) and Tunnicliffe's Birds (1984).
This painting of a grey heron (Ardea cinerea) in flight was commissioned by the Natural History Museum in the 1980s. It formed part of a series of 50 postcards by leading bird artists with the collective title British Birds by British Artists.
The grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is a familiar British bird, usually found close to water, freshwater and the sea, where it gets most of its food. It is a large bird, with pale grey plumage and a distinctive shape and stands up to 900 mm high. It feeds mainly on fish but also takes other animals. The birds are usually solitary, except in the spring when they nest in large colonies in trees or on cliff edges. The nests are large stick platforms that are revisited every year. There are 3-5 eggs, of a pale blue-green colour in a clutch. Grey herons are found throughout Europe and range into temperate Asia. In the recent past the bird was hunted in Europe as it was perceived to consume large quantities of fish.
The British Birds by British Artists Collection Noel Cusa was one of a number of British artists commissioned to draw birds for a series of postcards. This distinctive collection includes work by Charles F. Tunnicliffe (1901-1979) and Keith Shackleton (1923- ).
Exhibition and publication details There are no exhibition details available for this collection.
References and further reading Birds of Britain: Monthly Web Magazine for Bird Watchers Cusa, N. (1985) Tunnicliffe's Birdlife. Clive Holloway Books: London. 150pp. Hancock, J. (1999) Herons and Egrets of the World: A Photographic Journey. Academic Press: San Diego. 208pp. Hancock, J. & Kushlan, J. (1984) The Herons Handbook. Croom Helm: London. 288pp. Jackson, C.E. (1999) Dictionary of Bird Artists of the World. Antique Collectors' Club: Woodbridge, Suffolk. p. 213. Lockley, R. M.; illustrated by N. W. Cusa (1980) New Zealand Endangered Species; Birds, Bats, Reptiles, Freshwater Fishes, Snails, and Insects. Cassell: Auckland. 150pp. Lockley, R. M. (1983) Flight of the Storm Petrel. David & Charles: Newton Abbot. 192pp. Lockley, R. M.; illustrated by N. W. Cusa (1991) Birds and Islands: Travels in Wild Places. Witherby: London. 237pp. Ogilvie, M. (1982) Wildfowl of Britain and Europe. Oxford University Press: Oxford. 84pp. Tunnicliffe, C. F.; with an introduction, commentary and memoir of the artist by Noel Cusa (1984) Tunnicliffe's Birds: Measured Drawings. Gollanz: London. 160pp.
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