Peregrine Falcon Chick

This is a pastel and charcoal sketch of a peregrine falcon chick. This particular species has had a rocky past but thankfully now has a promising future.

The use of the pestiside, DDT, caused a rapid decline in the peregrine falcon population. DDT caused thinning of eggshells which resulted in the eggs breaking during incubation.

Once listed as endangered, the american peregrine falcon has made a recovery and in 1999 was taken off of the endangered species list.

I found a great quote in the most fantastic book, Peregrine Falcons by Candace Savage, "The peregrine is a bird with a naturally long life. But sensitive, high-level predators such as peregrines feed at the top of the food chain, and so have served as bellwethers to alert us to the invisible contamination of our world. It is because we have lost large numbers of raptors, including peregrines, that we discovered the progressive poisoning of our food chains by chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides."