Feather Patterns

This morning I was looking at the photo of a Mourning Dove that I took yesterday and marveling at the variety and complexity of the feather patterns. On a whim, I selected 12 96 x 96 pixel segments and pasted them together in a feather quilt. Then I got carried away and did this for 3 more photos, but added the eye in these.
The four birds are: Green Heron (top left), Mourning Dove (top right), Brown Pelican (bottom left), and Yellowlegs (bottom right). Each of the four panels is made up of segments of a single photo of one bird.
I put a larger version here
http://picasaweb.google.com/dlsparks/FeatherQuilt#
Nate: remove this if it doesn't belong here.

Nice idea David, I like the patterns and have always admired the detail in bird's feathers (it started with fly fishing and making flies).
I think any eye that you include needs to be clear and sharp and I do find them a little odd/spooky. On the other hand the feather patterns without them might be less interesting.

Very cool David

Cool stuff Dave,
You should post some in photo art.
I'm sure people would be inspired!
Neil

Thanks for the comments. The purpose of the post was to prod people to pause and take a fresh look at the variety of feather patterns even the most common birds possess. And the patterns often change seasonally. I haven't been paying close attention to this.

Great idea!

Impressive variety here Dave, esp when you consider that each panel segment comes from the same image of the same bird. I'm particularly surprised by the variations in the Yellowlegs.

Cool idea Dave!

Peter

Great idea well executed. I must try it myself.

Andy