Swallow-tailed hawk
1827-1838
Audubon didn't just paint birds sitting politely on branches—he wanted to show them in all their wild, dramatic glory. Here, a Swallow-tailed Hawk swoops through the air with its iconic forked tail spread wide, talons locked around a writhing snake in a moment of pure action. This plate comes from his legendary 'Birds of America' project, where he traveled the American wilderness sketching birds in their natural habitats, often shooting specimens just to pose them in lifelike positions. The sheer scale and dynamism of this print was revolutionary for its time, forever changing how we illustrate the natural world.
- Technique
- hand-colored aquatint engraving
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