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Killer Instincts

A sharp-eyed photographer finds an unexpected muse in a city hawk.

Officially, Peter Green is a cat person. But shortly after the graphic designer moved to Providence, the birds began to find him. First were the Peregrine falcons he observed from the roof deck of his Downcity loft. Next, he spotted (and adopted) a parakeet on the sidewalk. Then, he saw the red-tailed hawk in Burnside Park, eating a pigeon in the snow. “It was such a rush,” says Green. For days last winter, he returned to the park, taking photographs. Park rumor had it the hawk was a government-hired gun, brought in to control the pigeon population. “It was bizarre how many people believed that,” says Green—but ever since Pale Male made his home atop a Manhattan high-rise, urban raptors have had a way of capturing the public’s imagination. An October exhibit of Green’s hawk photos was well-received; his new mission is to get an up-close shot of the falcons. “I’m attuned to city birds now,” he says. “I’ll notice blue jays at the post office, a swan sitting on eggs.” A Cooper’s hawk that recently posed right outside his window proves what Green already knows:  Providence birds are ready for their close-up. See more photos from Green’s “Downcity Hawk” series at doubleagentdesign.com/hawk —NICOLE MARANHAS