A violent beating of the air, the crazed yet concise fluttering of the wings, and finally the quick lift into the sky. The life of a bird in all its ferocity. Ripping the heads off of fish, swallowing insects whole, breaking the backs of rodents – these are all in a bird’s method of survival.
We see their graceful flights, the smooth arc of their paths in mid-air, and we marvel at how easy and lovely it appears. We don’t see the tense muscles holding their wings taut beneath the armor of feathers, we don’t see the retracted talons clenched and preparing for perch. We only see what’s pretty.
