NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Heads up! A new bird sculpture has landed at Norfolk International Airport.

Titled “Navigator,” the public art is a blue heron made from decommissioned plane parts and structural elements of steel and aluminum with hand-blown glass eyes.

The 24 feet tall monument with its 44-foot wingspan was created by Don Kennell and Lisa Adler of DKLA Design of Santa Fe, NM. The sculpture celebrates the miracle of flight and Norfolk – a place blue herons call home. 

Officials say the sculpture is a celebration of the miracle of flight and Norfolk – a place blue herons call home.

It arrived at the airport the first week of June and is now in place at the southwest corner of Azalea Garden Road and Norview Avenue.

“People coming and going at the airport get inside aluminum birds every day. Navigator serves as an open-armed welcome and a good luck farewell to those travelers and everyone coming and going,” said co-creator Don Kennell. “We are all on a journey somewhere including the herons and wildlife that call Hampton Roads home.”