 Watercolor on bristol board 11 1/2" x 8 1/2" |
The gray goshawk (Accipiter novaehollandiae) is distributed throughout New Guinea and from Timor to the Solomon Islands and the periphery of Australia. Across this wide range one can see it in a number of different color variations, but this snow white form in whivh even the wingtips lack pigment occurs in all populations. In some areas it is rare; in Tasmania and the Kimberly Plateau it predominates. It seems likely that these white individuals gain an advantage from their resemblance to sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita), which share a nearly identical range. As the hawks patrol the forest edge they presumably appear innocuous to their avian prey until it's too late! |