"Saker Falcon"

The Saker falcon (Falco cherrug) is one of the largest falcons in the world and the bird of choice in Middle Eastern falconry for centuries. A species of the steppes of central Asia, it migrates to the Middle East and Africa in winter. Its characteristic plumage — white head streaked with brown, dark brown upperparts, ivory underparts with spotting — distinguishes it from the peregrine, which is darker and has a more pronounced moustache.

The bird is shown perched on the falconer's glove, in that posture of waiting that practitioners of falconry will recognise immediately: body upright, head slightly turned, eye alert. The glove is treated as a deliberately incomplete sketch so that the gaze settles entirely on the falcon. The jesses — the leather straps at the legs — recall without insistence that the bird is trained, not wild.