Red-tailed Hawk
Acrylic on particle board, 14 7/8 x 26 7/8 in. (1997)

The red tailed hawk has the unfortunate nickname of "Chicken Hawk" though I think it rarely dines on them. A large hawk, it can have a wingspan of almost 5 feet. The lady birds, it seems, are larger than the guys in the raptor species.

One of life's finest virtues is patience, such as sitting aloft in the tree tops awaiting the slightest movement below. Raptors in general have extremely keen eyesight and nearly silent wing strokes that make being a forest mouse on the forage a bit of a risk. Some nocturnal raptors, such as owls, also have sensitive hearing that allows them to find food that those huge saucer eyes alone cannot pick-out.