Gyrfalcon
by Hans Egil Saele
Title
Gyrfalcon
Artist
Hans Egil Saele
Medium
Drawing - Stone Lithography
Description
In 1986 I got a commission to make a series with ten different stone lithographies depicting birds of prey. I worked a whole year in a lithography studio in Oslo, making them the traditional way with lithographic crayons on limestone. I had little ornithological knowledge, but got permission to make research at one of the biological departments at University of Oslo.
This Gyrfalcon is one in the series of the ten birds of prey lithographies.
The gyrfalcon is a bird of prey (Falco rusticolus), the largest of the falcon species. The abbreviation gyr is also used. It breeds on Arctic coasts and tundra, and the islands of northern North America, Europe, and Asia. It is mainly a resident there also, but some gyrfalcons disperse more widely after the breeding season, or in winter. Individual vagrancy can take birds for long distances. Its plumage varies with location, with birds being coloured from all-white to dark brown. These colour variations are called morphs. Like other falcons, it shows sexual dimorphism, with the female much larger than the male. For centuries, the gyrfalcon has been valued as a hunting bird. Typical prey includes the ptarmigan and waterfowl, which it may take in flight; it also takes fish and mammals.
The gyrfalcon has long associated with humans, primarily for hunting and in the art of falconry. In the medieval era, the gyrfalcon was considered a royal bird.
(Source: Wikipedia)
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August 2nd, 2019
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