Northern Goshawk

Accipiter gentilisOrder: FALCONIFORMES Family: Kites, Eagles and Hawks (Accipitridae)

Codes: Common Name: NOGO Scientific Name: ACCGEN ITIS Taxonomic No.: 175300

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Overview

Northern Goshawk: Large hawk with slate blue-gray to nearly black upperparts and very finely barred and streaked pale gray underparts. Head is dark with thick, white eyebrows and red eyes. Tail is paler gray with three or four dark bands. Alternates rapid wing beats with glides, soars on thermals.

Range and Habitat

Northern Goshawk: Found in much of the northern hemisphere, from near the timber line in the north to as far south as sub-tropical regions; northern birds migrate during winter. Preferred habitats include dense coniferous and deciduous forests.

Topo Map: Hawk-like Body

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"ca-ca-ca"

Interesting Facts

A group of goshawks has many collective nouns, including a "couple and a half", "flight", "glare", and "gross" of goshawks.

Bird Term Glossary

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Northern Goshawk

● Song: "ca-ca-ca"

● Foraging & Feeding: Northern Goshawk: Eats birds, mammals, reptiles, and invertebrates: takes relatively large prey, weighing up to one-half as much as itself.

● Breeding & nesting: Northern Goshawk: Three or four brown spotted, white to blue eggs are laid in a nest made of dead twigs, lined with leafy green twigs, conifer needles, and pieces of bark, and built in a large tree. Incubation ranges from 36 to 41 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Northern Goshawk: Juvenile Cooper's Hawk is much smaller with longer tail and less distinctly streaked underparts. Sharp-shinned Hawk is much smaller, with shorter, squared-off tail, and shorter head-neck profile that does not project as far when flying.

Flight Pattern

Soars on thermals.

● Range & Habitat: Northern Goshawk: Found in much of the northern hemisphere, from near the timber line in the north to as far south as sub-tropical regions; northern birds migrate during winter. Preferred habitats include dense coniferous and deciduous forests.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationUncommon to rare

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight32 Ounces

Hawk-like Body

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America