Who's Flying Now? The Goshawk

© Anthony J. Sacco, Sr., Copyright, August 2005; Reprinted from the Wyoming Rural Electric News (WREN) Magazine, August 2005 issue.

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THE GOSHAWK:

The Goshawk has been classified as Accipiter gentiles, but there’s nothing at all gentle about this big raptor.

A Fearless nest defender

Should you be unfortunate enough to stray into its nesting area, you’ll experience nature at its wildest. Both males and females are fearless in defending the nest, and have been known to boldly attack intruders,1 including humans, up to three or more times their own size.2

Range extending southward

Mainly found in mountainside coniferous forests throughout Canada, the Goshawk winters in farmlands, woodland edges and open country farther south of its breeding grounds. However, it has recently begun extending its range southward and now breeds in small numbers in deciduous forests in the lower forty-eight.3 It has even been spotted in early summer, fledgling time for the Goshawk’s brood, as far east as Connecticut in southern New England.4

This formidable bird of prey is found here in Wyoming. The Game & Fish Department classifies it under Falconiformes, Accipitradae, grouping it with such similar raptors as the Bald Eagle, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk and the Red-tailed Hawk.5 However, the Bald Eagle is a larger bird, The Cooper’s is smaller, has a longer tail and a more slender body, the Sharp-shinned Hawk is typically much smaller with squared off tail and shorter head, and the immature Red-Tailed Hawk has pale crescents in the wings and a shorter tail.

Dinner of meat

The Goshawk feeds extensively on other birds and small mammals. Its nest is a large mass of sticks lined with fresh evergreen sprigs, in which three or four white or pale blue eggs are laid.

This is a robust raptor with a long, narrow tail, short, rounded wings and bold white eyebrows. The adult female is much larger than the male, but both are blue-gray above with pale underparts finely barred with gray. Usually silent, the Goshawk lets out a loud “kak-kak-kak-kak” when agitated.6

Big body, short wings

The Goshawk varies in length from nineteen to twenty-six inches. Its wingspan, approximately forty-two inches, is relatively short, a characteristic that allows it to drop from its perch and streak through forest glens without stirring a branch, at speeds up to an estimated thirty miles per hour.

The bird’s short, dark hooked beak and red eyes, give it a ferocious look, guaranteed to frighten off the unwary trespasser.