Northern goshawk

Distribution

Species range provided by WWF's Wildfinder.

Habitats

The following habitats are found across the Northern goshawk distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.

• Oak wood
• Beech wood
• Parkland
• Taiga
• Broadleaf forest
• Coniferous forest
• Temperate grassland

Behaviours

Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.

• Helpless young
• Carnivorous
• Adapted to flying
• Acoustic communication
• Food storage
• Monogamous
• Egg layer
• Parental investment
• Predator
• Sexual dimorphism
• Territorial

About

The Northern Goshawk /ˈɡɒs.hɔːk/ (Old English: gōsheafoc, "goose-hawk"), Accipiter gentilis, is a medium-large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes other diurnal raptors, such as eagles, buzzards and harriers. As a species in the Accipiter genus, the goshawk is often considered a "true hawk".

It is a widespread species that inhabits the temperate parts of the northern hemisphere. It is the only species in the Accipiter genus found in both Eurasia and North America. With the exception of Asia, it is the only species of "goshawk" in its range and it is thus often referred to (officially and unofficially, respectively) as simply the "Goshawk". It is mainly resident, but birds from colder regions migrate south for the winter. In North America, migratory goshawks are often seen migrating south along mountain ridge tops in September and October.

This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 under its current scientific name.

The Northern Goshawk appears on the flag of the Azores. The archipelago of the Azores, Portugal, takes its name from the Portuguese language word for goshawk, (açor), because the explorers who discovered the archipelago thought the birds of prey they saw there were goshawks; later it was found that these birds were kites or Common Buzzards (Buteo buteo rothschildi).

Read more at Wikipedia