HIGH-FLYING HUNTERS

 

High-Flying Hunters, acrylic on canvas, 2022. 31.5" X 24"

Birds of prey are characterized for their sharp, hooked beaks and curved claws called talons. Most are masterful flyers, able to stay in the air for hours while searching for prey with incredibly sharp vision. There are around 295 species of birds of prey, and they range across a huge variety of habitats, from mountains to rainforests.

The golden eagle (top) is often called the "king of birds" throughout its range. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle, ranging throughout the Northern Hemisphere. It hunts small mammals such as rabbits and squirrels as well as small birds. It lives in nests called eyries atop high cliffs, where pairs return to breed or raise their young year after year. For centuries, this species has been one of the most highly regarded birds used in falconry, the activity where humans keep and use birds of prey to hunt. Because of its hunting prowess, the golden eagle is regarded with great mystic reverence in some ancient, tribal cultures. 

The bald eagle (center right) is famous for being the national bird of the United States of America. Despite the name, its head is not bald, but its white, feather-covered head looks featherless from a distance. It builds the largest nest of any North American bird and the largest nest built on the treetops. It feeds primarily on fish. The American bald eagle was threatened by hunting, pollution and habitat loss, and by the mid-1970s there were just 2,000 bald eagles left in the USA. Conservation laws were then introduced in the country and now there are more than 20,000 bald eagles in the States.  

The Andean condor (Vultur gryphus, center left) is a type of vulture and the largest bird of prey, with a wingspan of almost 3 meters. It is primarily a scavenger, feeding on carrion. It is found in South America in the Andes and the Santa Marta Mountains. The condor is a national symbol of Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru and plays an important role in the folklore and mythology of the Andean regions. 

The king vulture (Sarcoramphus papa, bottom) is a colorful member of the vulture family which lives in Central and South America, ranging from southern Mexico to northern Argentina and Uruguay. This vulture has white and black feathers, while its featherless head and neck vary in skin color including yellow, orange, blue, purple and red. 

The white-bellied sea eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster, center, Helang Siput in Malay) ranges from India to southeast Asia and Australia. It breeds and hunts near water, and fish form around half of its diet. The white-bellied sea eagle is featured on the Singaporean $10,000 dollar note (in the 1980s bird-themed series), and is the state bird of the Malaysian state of Selangor. It is the largest eagle species in Malaysia.

The peregrine falcon (right) is the fastest-moving of all animals. It can streak down onto prey in a powered dive called a stoop. Some stoops made by peregrines have been timed at up to 242 miles per hour (389.5 km per hour). It can be found nearly everywhere on Earth, except extreme polar regions, very high mountains, and most tropical rainforests; the only major ice-free landmass from which it is entirely absent is New Zealand.

The gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus, foreground top left) is the largest member of the falcon family, being about the same size as some large hawks but probably slightly heavier. It is a powerful flyer which ranges throughout the cold regions of the Northern Hemisphere. The gyrfalcon was originally thought to only live in the tundra and mountainous regions; however, it was recently revealed to spend considerable periods during the winter on sea ice far from land. Like other falcons, the female much larger than the male. For centuries, the gyrfalcon has been valued as a hunting bird.

The red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis, top left) is a type of hawk that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It lives in a wide range of habitats and altitudes, including deserts, grasslands, coniferous and deciduous forests, agricultural fields, and urban areas. The diet of red-tailed hawks is highly variable and reflects their status as opportunistic generalists, but in North America, they are most often predators of small mammals such as rodents and also small reptiles. In the picture, it is seen catching a rattlesnake, which is a reference to the Mexican coat of arms (although the eagle in the actual coat of arms is a golden eagle).

The harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja, bottom right) is one of the largest and most powerful eagles in the world. Rare throughout its range, the harpy eagle is found from Mexico, through Central America and into South America to as far south as Argentina. In rainforests, they build their nests in the topmost emergent layer. This eagle is most common in Brazil, where it is also known as the royal hawk. Perching on top of the food chain and having the largest talons of any living eagle, its main prey are tree-dwelling mammals, and a majority of the diet has been shown to focus on sloths and monkeys. In the picture, it has caught a coati, a South American mammal related to the raccoon. 

The American kestrel (Falco sparverius, bottom left) is the smallest and most common falcon in North America. Its range also covers central and South America. It can be found in a wide variety of habitats, including grasslands, meadows, deserts and other open to semi-open regions. It feeds largely on small animals such as insects, lizards, mice, shrews, frogs, and small birds. American kestrels are pale-colored when seen from below and have warm, rusty brown-spotted feathers with black above, with a black band near the tip of the tail. The individual featured is a male, noted for its slate-grey wing feathers.