This painting is for the Losing Altitude book project.

Like many of the plant and animal species in Madagascar, the Madagascar Serpent Eagle is in serious trouble. For 60 years only a few sightings kept this bird from being declared extinct, and finally in the 1990s a live eagle was captured and its existence redetermined. Unfortunately, this raptor's survival is still in danger, primarily due to habitat destruction. The clear-cutting of forest in Madagascar is destroying what little habitat this bird has left, pushing it closer and closer to extinction.

Its past was dark and its future is cloudy and uncertain, but thanks to the conservation efforts of organizations such as the Peregrine Fund, there is yet a narrow light of hope for this and other species on that unique island.

Due to the extreme rarity of this bird, I had to do quite a bit of guesswork for this painting. There were very few photos for me to use to study anatomy and plumage, so I created this painting based on minimal visual and descriptive resources. I noticed this bird, despite being more closely related to Palm-Nut and Egyptian Vultures, has a very accipiter-like body with its short wings and long tail, so I used the Northern Goshawk to 'fill in the blanks' on parts of its anatomy. The tree is very (very) loosely based on the Madagascar Rosewood (Dalbergia baronii) which is now a vulnerable species due to overlogging for its prized wood.

Watercolor and colored pencil on soft-press 300 lb Fabriano, 10X13 inches