"The Gyrfalcon is the largest falcon in the world. Not as fast as the Peregrine Falcon, but more muscular, and completely fearless. Gyrfalcons have been known to break their own legs, striking prey and bringing it to the ground – they never quit!

This highly successful falcon has a huge range, across most of the Northern Hemisphere. Gyrfalcon colouration varies from dark grey to snowy white. I have chosen to sculpt a large, Arctic, female (females are larger than males in the falcon family) with snowy white plumage, speckled with grey, typical of Iceland, Greenland, Northern Canada and the United States, or Northern Russia and Siberia. She perches atop a weather-blasted stump, a rarity in such harsh climes, surveying her territory – ready to leap instantly into flight, in pursuit of her prey!

At one time, the only people allowed to hunt with captive Gyrfalcons were princes and kings. They truly are a noble bird of prey".