Candeleros Stork

Buitreraptor gonzalezorum, the stork-like dromaeosaur from Candeleros Formation, Patagonia. Stalking in the riverbanks, Buitreraptor was built to catch fish.

I recently bought Birdlife's Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. It's incredibly helpful in searching for inspiration in reconstructing feathered dinosaurs. I don't have to stick with the birds I have actually heard of before, ending up with boring colours and feather patterns that have been done a hundred times before. Instead, I have the full diversity of living (non-passerine) birds in my hands. This one was loosely based on white-faced whistling duck (Dendrocygna viduata). Of course, I try never to directly copy the colouration of an extant animal. That's a sure way to break the illusion.