Derek March
Fearsome Beauty
9 to 29 April - Opening 11 April 12 - 3pm
The kahu or harrier hawk with its tearing beak and deadly grappling clawed feet is an embodiment of nature’s dark energy and savage condition as well her raw beauty. The kahu scrutinises us and perhaps asks ‘what are you doing here?’ For many, insulated in their separation from the other, this bird is too confronting of the shadow reality of nature’s life and death infrastructure. For many, me included, it goes to the questions about the mystery of God’s purpose in it all. (Full artist statement at bottom of page)
Fearsome Beauty
The kahu or harrier hawk with its tearing beak and deadly grappling clawed feet is an embodiment of nature’s dark energy and savage condition as well her raw beauty. The kahu scrutinises us and perhaps asks ‘what are you doing here?’ For many, insulated in their separation from the other, this bird is too confronting of the shadow reality of nature’s life and death infrastructure. For many, me included, it goes to the questions about the mystery of God’s purpose in it all.
In O.E. Middleton’s short story Killers, a family is on a road journey during which the father deliberately hits and fatally injures a hawk. The mother sees the bird as “a beastly thing” and wonders ‘why were such murderous creatures made.’ On arriving home their daughter takes a hawk feather which was caught on the grille of the family car to her room and stands it in a vase ‘where the light caught it and brought to life colours that reminded her of earth, blood and fierce sunlight’
The negative reactions of the father and mother are typical of many urban and rural dwellers. But this biophobic reaction blinds people to the important role these birds play as our top avian predators, cleaning up carrion and keeping smaller birds and rodents in check.
Misunderstood and undervalued, the kahu made its way from Australia 800 years ago. The clearing of forest from large areas of the country during human settlement, along with the explosion of introduced mammals suited it well. Between 1860 and 1950 hundreds of thousands were killed under a bounty system because at that time they were thought to pose a threat to introduced game birds. Now harriers have partial protection meaning that it is legal to kill them if they are causing injury to livestock. In certain areas numbers are controlled if they are perceived to be having a negative impact on threatened species.
I am fortunate to live next to a wetland which is home to a number of pairs of kahu. During the main part of the year they quarter the land looking for food on large wings with their slow, deliberate, gliding sharp eyed flight. And then in spring, they own the whole sky as they joyously perform all sorts of dives, stalls and rolls riding high up, and voicing on the wind. The plumage underneath their wings is lighter in tone and flashes as it catches the light.
To Māori, the kahu was a symbol of victory and chieftainship. Its effortless flight inspired a chant used by East Coast Māori when performing a difficult task like moving a heavy log:
Te kahu i runga whakaaorangi anae ra,
Te pera koia taku rite, inawa e!
The hawk above moves like clouds in the sky.
Let me do the same!
Derek March April 2026
References
The Natural World of the Maori- Margaret Orbell
Nz birds on Line.
The kahu or harrier hawk with its tearing beak and deadly grappling clawed feet is an embodiment of nature’s dark energy and savage condition as well her raw beauty. The kahu scrutinises us and perhaps asks ‘what are you doing here?’ For many, insulated in their separation from the other, this bird is too confronting of the shadow reality of nature’s life and death infrastructure. For many, me included, it goes to the questions about the mystery of God’s purpose in it all.
In O.E. Middleton’s short story Killers, a family is on a road journey during which the father deliberately hits and fatally injures a hawk. The mother sees the bird as “a beastly thing” and wonders ‘why were such murderous creatures made.’ On arriving home their daughter takes a hawk feather which was caught on the grille of the family car to her room and stands it in a vase ‘where the light caught it and brought to life colours that reminded her of earth, blood and fierce sunlight’
The negative reactions of the father and mother are typical of many urban and rural dwellers. But this biophobic reaction blinds people to the important role these birds play as our top avian predators, cleaning up carrion and keeping smaller birds and rodents in check.
Misunderstood and undervalued, the kahu made its way from Australia 800 years ago. The clearing of forest from large areas of the country during human settlement, along with the explosion of introduced mammals suited it well. Between 1860 and 1950 hundreds of thousands were killed under a bounty system because at that time they were thought to pose a threat to introduced game birds. Now harriers have partial protection meaning that it is legal to kill them if they are causing injury to livestock. In certain areas numbers are controlled if they are perceived to be having a negative impact on threatened species.
I am fortunate to live next to a wetland which is home to a number of pairs of kahu. During the main part of the year they quarter the land looking for food on large wings with their slow, deliberate, gliding sharp eyed flight. And then in spring, they own the whole sky as they joyously perform all sorts of dives, stalls and rolls riding high up, and voicing on the wind. The plumage underneath their wings is lighter in tone and flashes as it catches the light.
To Māori, the kahu was a symbol of victory and chieftainship. Its effortless flight inspired a chant used by East Coast Māori when performing a difficult task like moving a heavy log:
Te kahu i runga whakaaorangi anae ra,
Te pera koia taku rite, inawa e!
The hawk above moves like clouds in the sky.
Let me do the same!
Derek March April 2026
References
The Natural World of the Maori- Margaret Orbell
Nz birds on Line.
