Rebecca Gelernter
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nearbirdstudios.bsky.social
Rebecca Gelernter
@nearbirdstudios.bsky.social
7.9K followers 850 following 5.6K posts
Science illustrator and designer. I like things with feathers. She/her

Portfolio: www.nearbirdstudios.com
Prints: www.inprnt.com/gallery/nearbirdstudios
Merch: https://nearbirdstudios.threadless.com
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nearbirdstudios.bsky.social
Rebecca Gelernter @nearbirdstudios.bsky.social · Oct 8
Hello #PortfolioDay! I'm Rebecca, a science and medical illustrator who loves birds and other feathered creatures 🐡🪶🧪
Portrait of a female Great Hornbill, a large bird, down to the upper chest. Her beak is huge, with a yellow-to-orange maxilla and damaged casque and a pale blue-grey mandible. She has a black mask covering her face and the base of her bill. Her eye is silvery and has nice lashes. Her neck shades from yellow through raw sienna to a pale burnt sienna, and her body feathers and the top of her wing are black. Twelve detailed vector illustrations of brains, arranged in two columns, one without blood vessels and one with. More anatomical layers are added from top to bottom, starting from a midsagittal view and ending with lateral. At the bottom left is the wordmark "MedStudy", for whom I did this work. Gouache painting of Anchiornis huxleyii, a small feathered dinosaur, climbing through branches. He's mostly grey with black-spotted white wing, leg, and tail feathers and a rusty red crest and cheek feathers. Watercolor illustration of a Red-and-yellow Barbet, seen at 45°. His head is mostly red and his belly is creamy white. His wing is black with white spots, and a band of this pattern circles his breast. His tail is banded black and white. He's glaring at the viewer, challenging the audacity of any who would dare to look upon him.
nearbirdstudios.bsky.social
This wonderful bird could use some support.
pepperandpals.bsky.social pepperandpals.bsky.social @pepperandpals.bsky.social · 15h
So Mango really went downhill again. I'm kind of not doing great so I will keep this brief and simple as I try to explain best I can.

1. Mango likely has something called avian ganglioneuritis. If I understand correctly, many captive parrots (as many as 1 in 3) has Bornavirus. However, not all of
February 15, 2026 at 6:40 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Gelernter
whalepetunias.bsky.social
"Oh God," said Zaphod. He hadn't worked with this computer for long but had already learned to loathe it.
February 15, 2026 at 2:51 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Gelernter
steveharrell.bsky.social
Best commentary I've seen on the repeal of the endangerment finding:

www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Trump Administration Announces That We Don’t Know Where the Sun Goes at Night
After deciding carbon dioxide does no harm, it was the logical next move.
www.theatlantic.com
February 15, 2026 at 5:45 AM
Reposted by Rebecca Gelernter
older.bsky.social
important not to underestimate the visceral discomfort of this: having something personal and unique stolen, copied, and exploited for money.
February 15, 2026 at 12:39 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Gelernter
arthistoryanimalia.bsky.social
Happy #LoveHornbillsDay!
Hunt Slonem (USA, b.1951)
#Hornbills, 1989
Oil on canvas, 66.25 x 88.25 in.
#BirdsInArt
manolisprojectsstore.com/products/hor...
oil painting depicting a crowded flock of 18 different hornbills “Hunt Slonem's paintings are at once vibrant, energetic and colorful, yet also deeply spiritual and contemplative. The artist creates exotic forms with expressive and highly textural brushstrokes that are full of intense color, loosely inspired by artists of the German Expressionism movement. As a child, Slonem first felt a connection to birds. The fascination continued into adulthood; not only does he admire the colorful animals from afar, but he also collects the exotic birds. Slonem utilizes the intense colors of the neo-expressional style that mirrors the interesting worlds in which these animals exist. He describes his work with one word, “Exotica.” Slonem creates beautiful, surprising scenes that offer a calming joy to those who encounter it. From the very beginning, animals and the natural world, most notably birds, have been the central focus of his work. For Slonem, birds signify divinity and transcendence in their ability to leave the realm of earth and its constraints through flight. He sees the ability of birds to fly - to achieve atmospheric height - as a direct metaphor for transcendence from an earthly to a spiritual realm.”
February 13, 2026 at 11:09 PM
nearbirdstudios.bsky.social
Wait, it's #LoveHornbillsDay? Yes!!
nearbirdstudios.bsky.social Rebecca Gelernter @nearbirdstudios.bsky.social · 1d
Knobbed Hornbill WIP watercolor sketch. I haven't decided if I want to include his wings or keep this silly sock puppet look 🐡🪶
In-progress hornbill painting with two waterbrushes. The bird's neck is stretched upward, and it's looking diagonally outward.
February 14, 2026 at 1:03 AM
Reposted by Rebecca Gelernter
ajaxsinger.bsky.social
This is something the Nazis used to do to Jewish children in the camps. It happened to a man I knew when he was a child in Auschwitz. The camp guards thought it was funny as hell.
mikehixenbaugh.com Mike Hixenbaugh @mikehixenbaugh.com · 1d
On Thanksgiving, the immigrant children held at the Dilley detention center gathered in the gym for what they thought was a holiday feast.

The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.

But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
On Nov. 16, a mental health counselor recorded in Kamilla’s medical records that her mother reported the girl had lost her appetite after being “served food that contained worms.” A week later, the couple said, children were told to gather in the gym for what they believed would be a Thanksgiving celebration. Excitement spread as families saw tables set with turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, they said. The children waited expectantly. But when a parent asked when the celebration would begin, Oksana said, staff told them the holiday meal was for employees, not detainees. The children, she said, watched despondently as the feast was packed away.
February 13, 2026 at 8:09 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Gelernter
doedryadart.bsky.social
Weathered King

Recently finished portrait of a Great Hornbill
9x12" oil painting
#birds #sciart
Painted portrait of a Great Hornbill with a muted green backdrop. A striking yellow and black bird with a large bill and casque. The bill is weathered and textured, and the eyes are a deep red.
February 12, 2026 at 12:10 PM
nearbirdstudios.bsky.social
Weird Ducks at Quonochontaug Breachway this afternoon 🪶
Black Scoter swimming in a boulder-lined breachway. He's a large, black duck with a yellow knob at the base of his upper bill. Two male Common Eiders in a salt pond. The shore is covered in patchy, wet snow, and there's a sandbar with gulls some distance behind them. They're large, mostly black and white ducks with a wedge-shaped profile.
February 14, 2026 at 12:18 AM
nearbirdstudios.bsky.social
Me: Margot, you wanna step up?
Margot: STEP up (raises foot, does not step up)
Louie: (already out) stepUP
Me: Step up?
M: STEP up! Hello!
L: stepUP
Me: Step up
L: stepUP
M: STEP up! STEP up!
Me: Step up
M: STEP up
L: stepUP
M: STEP up

This goes on for minutes #parrotsky
February 13, 2026 at 11:21 PM
nearbirdstudios.bsky.social
Knobbed Hornbill WIP watercolor sketch. I haven't decided if I want to include his wings or keep this silly sock puppet look 🐡🪶
In-progress hornbill painting with two waterbrushes. The bird's neck is stretched upward, and it's looking diagonally outward.
February 13, 2026 at 9:53 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Gelernter
sarahmackattack.bsky.social
Hey definitely call your senators about this. Like seriously.
aclu.org ACLU @aclu.org · 3d
BREAKING: The House passed the so-called SAVE America Act which threatens to upend our freedom to vote.

The bill could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters by requiring documents like passports or birth certificates to register to vote and forcing voter roll purges. The Senate must reject it.
February 12, 2026 at 3:29 AM
Reposted by Rebecca Gelernter
jocelynanderson.bsky.social
A female Hooded Merganser communicating a message to a male Hooded Merganser. I think she wanted to go for a walk, because soon after this they were strolling along the icy shoreline together.
February 11, 2026 at 10:17 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Gelernter
beardedgeordie.bsky.social
Grey heron head on
Hungary 🇭🇺
@birdguides.bsky.social
@birdsoftheworld.bsky.social
#birds
#birdsseenin2026
February 11, 2026 at 10:22 PM
nearbirdstudios.bsky.social
I'm now at the point with this job where i'm questioning if the painting is any good at all, so, you know. Time to hand it in, I guess
February 11, 2026 at 5:47 PM
nearbirdstudios.bsky.social
I put out a big plate of peanuts and the jays are losing their fucking minds
February 11, 2026 at 3:08 PM
nearbirdstudios.bsky.social
Ah, much better
Pink cardinal on a bare tree, now a bit closer and lit better.
February 11, 2026 at 3:03 PM
nearbirdstudios.bsky.social
Pink boy spotted 🪶
An adult male Northern Cardinal who is a rich, rosy pink instead of red. He's on a branch in front of a thicket.
February 11, 2026 at 2:58 PM
nearbirdstudios.bsky.social
The woods are full of the sound of dripping snowmelt 💧
Photo of a wintery forest, looking toward the sun, so the water on the twigs catches the light.
February 11, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Gelernter
unravy.bsky.social
Moss ball bug
It was itching my brain, I had to!

A green fluffball crawling out of the bushes. I'd love to see other artists take on this critter 👀🌿
February 10, 2026 at 3:50 PM
nearbirdstudios.bsky.social
With the temps a little higher, the birds seem to have decided it's spring now. Finches and wrens are singing, and a woodpecker has been drumming!
February 11, 2026 at 2:19 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Gelernter
nataliajagielska.bsky.social
Bringing this back up for the International Day of Women in Science, and yes, I consider scientific art, as part of scientific process and communication 🫰
February 11, 2026 at 3:09 AM
Reposted by Rebecca Gelernter
beetlemoses.bsky.social
Two panel comic. Panel 1: a sunfish in a dress is in front of a bedroom mirror on a dresses. She says to another sunfish out of frame, “please don’t tell me you forgot our date night.” Panel 2: the other sunfish stares at her blankly with a gigantic chunk missing from its head.
February 10, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Rebecca Gelernter
birdhism.com
💔 Saw a horrible video of a bird mill (think puppy mill), stayed up late and just criiiied.

I could share the footage and let shock do the talking, or you could just trust me on this and choose/share the message of adoption only. 🪶

Bird rescues are overwhelmed.
No demand, means no bird mills.
February 10, 2026 at 5:21 PM