Reed bed with Raptors: Eurasian hobby on the left, Kestrel in the centre

Raptors

All birds of prey are also known as raptors but that description also covers eagles, hawks, harriers, buzzards, kites, falcons, owls, and ospreys.

Kites and Buzzards are similar medium-to-large raptors that may take live prey but mostly feed on insects or carrion (dead animals). They are the most common birds of prey that we may see in the countryside. Kites can be distinguished by their slightly longer wings and forked tail. Both may ‘hover’ against the wind, but generally they soar on thermals or search for prey from perches in trees or on telephone poles.

Red Kite

The Red Kite Milvus milvus, which in Medieval Britain once scoured the streets of London, was close to extinction in the 1930s.  Luckily, initial protection of a small population in Mid wales was successful. More recently; captive breeding, re-introduction and feeding stations have now seen its populations re-established in most of the UK.  For more on rescuing the Red kite population in Wales, check out the British Bird of Prey Centre’s post.  The Red Kite is known in Wales as Barcud, which is a popular name for a number of Welsh enterprises including housing associations, and a film production company.

It’s penchant for eating carrion earned it the colloquial name of “Shite-hawk” in olden days, and these birds are often seen looking for road kill along motorways.

Red kite Milvus milvus

Common Buzzard

The Common Buzzard Buteo buteo is a native bird that now breeds in every county in the UK.  It is an opportunistic feeder, taking everything from earthworms to small rabbits, and ranges over a wide range of habitats. Buzzards pair for life but will change nest sites frequently even within a single year. They love to soar on thermals and can be seen in large numbers doing so in suitable sites.  However, they will fiercely defend their own territories and nest sites.

In the Spring the young males will put on acrobatic aerial displays, known as “roller-coasting”, to impress females. This involves soaring upwards and then plummeting down; twisting and turning as it descends. Like the Red Kite they have a plaintiff  ‘mewing’ call.  This is recognised in their Welsh name Boncath or Bwncath, ‘cath’ being Welsh for cat. Native populations may be augmented by passage migrant populations at certain times of year.  These migrant species include the Rough-Legged and Honey Buzzard species that may be difficult to differentiate from the Common Buzzard.  Complicating matters further, the Common buzzard  itself has a variable appearance.

Common buzzard Buteo buteo

Both Buzzards and Kites are regularly attacked by crow species whose nests they may predate. The crows seem to regard them as an enemy at all times and will often pursue and harass them even outside of the breeding season, sending up ‘fighters’ at the first sign of their flight overhead.

Kestrel

The Kestrel is a smaller falcon that also takes small mammals and insects. It generally hunts by  ‘hovering’ over areas of suitable prey habitat, and then dropping on its prey – largely voles and mice.  A kestrel can ‘see’ near ultra-violet light, which allows it detect urine trails around small mammal burrows. It is estimated that they need to catch between 4-8 voles a day.  These fuel their hovering sort of flight, with rapidly beating their wings, and which uses considerable energy.

The name kestrel is derived from a French word ‘crecelle’, which was a bell carried by lepers (sufferers from leprosy) to warn people to stay away. Kestrels were once used to drive pigeons away from crops. Their other common names are ‘windhover’ or ‘wind f***er’.

Kestrel Falco tinnuculus in hovering flight

Its scientific name is Falco tinnuculus. Falco derives from ‘falcil’ which we know as a sickle, and refers to their hook-shaped claws. ‘Tinnuculus’ is from ‘tinnulus’ or shrill, which refers to the bird’s cry. In Welsh it is known as Cudyll Coch or the Red Merlin, to distinguish it from the rarer Cudyll Bach or Merlin which is also found in upland areas.

Kestrel Falco tinnuculus

Although the Kestrel is found in upland areas; it can also commonly seen alongside motorways, hovering over adjoining grass verges. Populations appear to have declined in recent years but the causes of this have not been established. Habitat reduction is one factor, and landowners keen to offer suitable habitat should provide grassy cover for small mammals.

So next time you see a bird of prey hovering above, have a look to see which it might be.  the Red kite with its distinctive forked tail, the Buzzard with yellow legs and blunter wings; or the Kestrel whose rounded wings, reddish colour, and straight tail make it an easy one to spot.

Malham tarn landscape with Kestrel on the right and another bird of prey, the Peregrine falcon, on the left

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The Goshawk is a gorgeous bird of prey, and has long been used in falconry.  They’re really hard to spot, and are fearsome predators. (A recent and beautiful book on the Goshawk is well worth a read;  H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald)  Therefore, getting good reference for them is very tricky.  Luckily I had permission from some top ornithology photographers to use their photos for reference purposes, and thus could get  the information I needed.

Drawing up the pencil rough

After drawing up the Goshawk in pencil (I like mechanical pencils like the Pentel P205) onto watercolour paper, I struggled with the feet.  All the ref. I had showed the talons partially obscured.  Using a hopeful outlook, a bit of biological knowledge, and various different sources of reference I pieced the hawk’s feet together.  Even now I feel this is the weakest part of the illustration.

Painting the darkest areas of the Goshawk feathers

Next I plot in the structure and texture of the feathers using a mix of Vandyke brown, yellow ochre, sap green, cobalt blue, purple, cadmium orange light, and cerulean blue (no, it really did take all of them to get near the correct shade of brown!).  Generally I stick to Winsor & Newton watercolours, and needed to throw out my old number 1 series 7 brush in favour of a new one for this job.  As I build up the feathers with repeated tiny strokes, I try to give extra weight to one side of each feather as this gives depth and texture to the wings.

I also work into the white feathers by suggesting shadows.  These have to be bold in colour to ensure the feathers look white when the illustration is complete, and I use a mix of cobalt blue and violet, very watery and lightly applied.

A unifying brown wash goes onto the wing area – Vandyke brown mixed with yellow ochre and lots of water.  I suggest  the central rachis of each feather on the wing.  Mixing Vandyke brown with a violet and a deep greenish blue, I paint in the beautiful chest feathers.  Tiny little brush strokes are needed, and again I try to put more weight on one side of each feather.  I believe I made the Goshawk chest region too dark and not quite as stripy as it should be; an example of slightly overworking a painting.

Illustrating the feet and beak

After so much feathery work, it’s a relief (and a challenge) to plot in the bright yellow expanses of the bird’s beak, and to start building up the structure of the legs.  It’s an alarmingly bright yellow, so I used cadmium yellow light and Indian yellow with only a touch of yellow ochre to knock it back.

Getting the murderously sharp point of the beak and the claws acute enough inevitably proves a real challenge, and I find I stop breathing as I paint the tiny dark lines that suggest these apexes.

More washes build up, the wing and tail feathers took about five increasingly dark washes before they started to look like they had any depth.  I work further into the purple of the shadows under the wing and on the rear leg, and paint in shadows on the tail.  More tiny strokes give a better sense of form to the back of the hawk’s neck and to his facial markings.

A yellow wash is applied to the legs, and I work further into the beak and claws.

Painting the eye and completing the illustration

I always leave the eye til last, I always have done.  This was tricky, as every written description talked about the fierce red eye of the adult male goshawk; but none of the photos or illustrations showed the bird with anything other than a yellow eye.  I decided to go with the written ornithological descriptions, but err on the side of caution by making certain there were plenty of yellow highlights within the depth of the iris.

Another couple of brown washes on the wings and tail, and a little more work on the shadows on the legs, tail, and superciliary area saw the bird nearing completion.  A bit more work on the pupil (always the hardest part of a painting to get right), and a touch more dark on both talons and beak, and the bird was complete.

The post Natural History Illustration of the Goshawk appeared first on Lizzie Harper.