Hawk Rising by Maria Gianferrari (review)

In this companion to Coyote Moon (BCCB 9/16), Gianferrari again observes an urban hunter as it finds prey to feed its young. A pair of sisters brings binoculars into their backyard to watch a male red-tailed hawk as it scans the landscape from telephone poles and trees, then swoops down to grab at prey (first a chipmunk, then a sparrow) that narrowly escapes with its life. Hours pass before the hawk finally kills a squirrel that can neither outrun the raptor nor hide in open ground. The younger of the two birdwatchers is obviously saddened to see the hawk fly into the sunset, squirrel dangling from its talons, but the closing spreads focus on the hawk family and its hard-earned dinner: "Back in the nest he lands. Chicks screech and jostle, beaks wide open, no longer waiting." Gianferrari's poetic text layers lyrical beauty onto a harsh story of survival, and Floca's luminous scenes convey both honest objectivity—the terrified squirrel racing under the hawk's shadow and then gripped in its claws—and genuine sensitivity in the parent hawks' care for their chicks. Additional facts about red-tailed hawks, as well as print and online resources for further information, are appended.