Thesis - Red-tailed Hawk

This is the fifth in a series of ten paintings for my thesis, An Illustrative Exploration of Birds of Prey in History and Culture. Here is one of the most common raptors in North America, the red-tailed hawk.

Like barn owls, red-tailed hawks hunt primarily rodents. These larger hawks, however, take larger prey such as rats and rabbits, which can cause serious damage to farmers' crops. Unfortunately, this raptor was incorrectly seen as a 'chicken hawk.' It is very unusual for red-tails to hunt chickens, and if you see one soaring over a farm, it most likely has its eye on a juicy rat on the ground.

_{Watercolor on cold-press Arches, about 10.5 X 14 inches}