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Cooper's Hawk

Cooper's Hawk line art illustration (click image to enlarge)

Cooper's Hawk full color illustration (click image to enlarge)

Artist's notes:

The Cooper's Hawk was completed on 12.10.2010. I'm slowly making my way through the hawks common to North America. I'm trying to balance out the poses when I render a hawk - sometimes in flight, other times on its perch, like this pose. The drawing is based on a photo by Robert Zachary.

Information about the Cooper's Hawk:

The Cooper's Hawk is a medium sized predatory bird of prey of the Accipiter genus. They are also known as a "Chicken Hawk." They're native to the North American continent and quite common in urban areas, where they feed on small songbirds, rodents and other small mammals. They are named for the naturalist William Cooper, who was one of the founders of the New York Academy of Sciences. This bird was greatly threatened by the use of DDT in the 70's as well as the mistaken belief they posed a considerable threat preying on commercial poultry, their numbers have rebounded and they are no longer considered threatened.