Content for this page researched and created by Danny Stawowczyk

The Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) is an interesting raptor that inhabits a diverse range of ecosystems. These birds are found in regions all over the world, including North America, Eurasia, areas of the Middle East, Northwest Africa, and several islands of Japan, Corsica, and the Queen Charlottes, which are located off the coast of Western Canada (The Peregrine Fund).  These astonishing creatures possess a very distinct demeanor which is expressed both physically and mentally. The bird simply looks (and acts!) fierce.  The Northern Goshawk has often been used as a symbol of strength because of its fierce appearance (ARKive).  They also behave fiercely even though they are extremely cautious and smart.

Young Northern Goshawks typically have pale, yellow eyes, adults have a piercing red eye color (Montana Field Guide).  The Northern Goshawk body is a mixture of light and dark grays, along with hints of brown and striking white eyebrows (Cornell Laboratory).  The Northern Goshawk is the largest member of the Accipiter family, and females are generally larger than males (Cornell Laboratory).

These raptors are so intriguing because of their extremely savage and aggressive behavior. Not only are Northern Goshawks defiant when they attack their prey, they also illustrate this violent behavior when they come into contact with humans (Raptor Center).  With that being said, it would be an understatement to say that Northern Goshawks are extremely protective of themselves, as well as their young! There are numerous cases where Northern Goshawks have attacked people who simply approached their nest area (Raptor Center).

The Northern Goshawk takes hunting very seriously.  They are intelligent and cautious as they swoop to dig their talons into their prey. This strike and talon piercing usually  instantly kills the prey animal (ARKive). However, sometimes the goshawk gets carried away and abandons its careful behaviors. For example, in Jackson, Wyoming a young Northern Goshawk soared full speed into a resident’s living room window and broke the coracoid process of his scapula (Teton Raptor Center).  Although this does not illustrate the bird’s great intelligence, it is a great example of the aggressiveness and agility of this raptor!

Northern Goshawks are not picky about what they eat.  They generally take whatever prey is most common in their specific habitat (European Raptors: Biology and Conservation).  Some of the most common prey taken includes grouse, ducks, rabbits and hares and even other raptors (Hawk Mountain Sanctuary). Northern Goshawks often have particular spots from which they scan the surrounding environment for their prey. They also have very distinct flying patterns by which they approach their chosen prey.  The anatomy and physiology of the Northern Goshawk comes contribute to these hunting and capturing beahviors.  These hawks have a wide and short wingspan somewhere between thirty-six and fifty inches with an extensive tail that aids in sharp flying(NatureGate).  This body feature allows the Goshawk to sneak up on their prey, as they use a “flap, flap, glide” style of flying as they accelerate up to forty miles per hour, swooping down on their prey (The Peregrine Fund).  Previous to these actions, the Goshawk tends to hide in tall trees, taking advantage of their capability to swoop through small, cluttered trees and their branches (Cornell Laboratory).  Lastly, this whole procedure is commonly presented along forest borderlines, especially along rivers and other bodies of water.

One of the most extraordinary aspects of the Accipiter gentilis is its immense habitat diversity.  The Northern Goshawk is the only member of the accipiter family that resides in both North America and the Eurasia (Haughey).  Forty-one American states are currently populated with the Accipiter gentilis, as well as fourteen Canadian provinces (Fire Effects Information System).  Since these raptors exist all over the world, it is evident that they are able to sustain themselves in a wide range of environments.  For instance, Northern Goshawks generally inhabit beech and pine trees in England, however they are found in cedar trees when they migrate to the country of Lebanon for the winter (The Peregrine Fund). Moving to the United States, you will usually find these birds in deciduous forests (Cornell Laboratory).

The nests of Northern Goshawks are usually located in areas that are less than 800 feet in elevation. Generalizations about the nesting patterns of this bird, though, are difficult to make because recorded information varies substantially (Iverson)! In areas of Montana and Idaho, though, nest site selection seems to be more predictable and reliant on several discrete different factors: climate, region, and habitat availability (Hayward). These birds are often found in mature forests probably because they prefer large and tall trees (Bruggeman). Unfortunately, a range of deforestation due to timber harvesting, forest fires, and tree diseases has undoubtedly declined the population of these beautiful raptors (Graham).

Not only do Northern Goshawks inhabit different trees in different ecosystems, they also have different physical appearances in these different systems.  Studies show that Northern Goshawks tend to be heavier in Northern latitudes.  Male goshawks weigh between thirty to forty-two ounces and females range between forty-five to sixty-eight ounces (NatureGate).  However, in areas such as Scandinavia and Northern Russia, Northern Goshawks have been recorded at astonishing weights of seventy-seven ounces!

As well as every other aspect of the Accipiter gentilis, their mating and breeding processes and behaviors are very fascinating!  After these birds inhabit their large nests made of sticks, females lay somewhere around three to six eggs, incubating them for the next thirty-five to thirty-eight days. During this incubation period, the female Goshawk remains extremely protective of the eggs and aggressive against any intruder or threat (NatureGate). Goshawks typically build their nests in areas that highlight their agility and fitness (Bruggeman). Goshawks select nest sites that have large numbers  of Conifers(Donner).

Nesting usually takes place from April to early May (ARKive).  Northern Goshawk display some unusual mating behaviors.  A Northern Goshawk mates can live over a whole kilometer away from their mating partner (ARKive)!  That seems to be a quite rare trait, seeing that most mating partners would prefer to protect each other and stay close together.  Northern Goshawks also may be taking a risk depending on which age they choose to breed for the first time!  Goshawks that mate for the first time at an early age, may be negatively impacting their fitness for the remainder of their lives!  Females also tend to have fewer breeding successes when their first breeding age is at an early stage of life (KRÜGER).  The most important factor that controls breeding, though, is their relative population density (KRÜGER).

Accipiter gentilis reaches sexual maturity somewhere between the age of two or three years old (ARKive).  Nestlings typically are able to fledge when they are between thirty-eight to forty days in age (NatureGate)!  The fledges then become independent after seventy to ninety days.  That is a relatively early stage of independence since these beautiful creatures can survive for up to nineteen years (ARKive)!  Better ways to monitor these animals need to be developed so that their life cycles stages can more clearly understood (Reynolds)!

 

In conclusion, Accipiter gentilis is an immensely interesting bird, and may be one of the most remarkable raptors in the world!  Between the attractive physical features of the bird, its extraordinary flying and mating patterns, and its diverse ecosystem and habitats, one cannot argue that the Northern Goshawk is simply an astonishing species!  Hopefully more research will be conducted on the Northern Goshawk because everyone deserves to know more about them.  I believe all people who reside in a location that the Northern Goshawk inhabits should go into the woods and see if they can identify this beautiful raptor.  Be sure not to get too close though, remember, they are extremely aggressive and may conduct attack!

 

General Bibliographies

 

1. “Accipiter Gentilis.” The Peregrine Fund. (Global Raptor Information Network), 2012. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.

2. “Goshawk.” NatureGate. Luontoportti,  Web. 25 Sept. 2016.

3. “Northern Goshawk (Accipiter Gentilis).” ARKive. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.

4. “Northern Goshawk, Accipiter Gentilis.” European Raptors: Biology and Conservation. European Raptors, Web. 25 Sept. 2016.

5. Northern Goshawk – Accipiter Gentilis.” Montana Field Guide. Montana Natural Heritage Program and Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, Web. 25 Sept. 2016.

6. “Northern Goshawk.” Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, 2016. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.

7. “Northern Goshawk.” Identification, All About Birds. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2015. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.
8. “Northern Goshawk.” Raptor Center. University of Minnesota, 2016. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.

9. “Northern Goshawk.” Teton Raptor Center. NatureServe, 2007. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.

10. Stone, Katharine R. “Accipiter Gentilis.” Fire Effects Information System, 2013. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.

 

Scientific Bibliography

1.  Bruggeman, Jason E., David Andersen E., and James Woodford E. “Factors Related to  Northern Goshawk Landscape Use in the Western Great Lakes Region.” Journal of Raptor Research 48.3 (2014): 228-39. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.

2. Bruggeman, Jason E., David Andersen E., and James Woodford E. “Northern

Goshawk Monitoring In the Western Great Lakes Bioregion.” Journal of Raptor

Research 45.4 (2011): 290-303. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.

3. Donner, Deahn M., Dean Anderson, Daniel Eklund, and Matthew Pierre St. “Large-scale Forest Composition Influences Northern Goshawk Nesting in Wisconsin.” The Journal of Wildlife Management 77.3 (2013): 495-504. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.

4.Graham, Russell T., Ronald L. Rodriguez, Kathleen M. Paulin, Rodney L. Player,

Arlene P. Heap, and Richard Williams. “The Northern Goshawk in Utah:

Habitat Assessment and Management Recommendations.” Research &

Development Treesearch (1999): Web. 24 Sept. 2016.

5 . Haughey, Christy L., George Sage K., Gabriel Degange R., Sarah Sonsthagen A., and

Sandra Talbot L. “Development of Novel Microsatellite Markers for the Northern

Goshawk (Accipiter Gentilis) and Their Utility in Cross-species Amplification.”

Avian Biology Research 9.3 (2016): 195-99. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.

6. Hayward, Gregory D., and Ronald E. Escano. “Goshawk Nest-Site

Characteristics in Western Montana and Northern Idaho.” The Condor 91.2

(1989): 476-79. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.

7.  Iverson, George C., Gregory D. Hayward, Kimberly Titus, Eugene Degayner, Richard E. Lowell, D. Coleman Crocker-Bedford, Philip F. Schempf, and John. Lindell. “Conservation Assessment for the Northern Goshawk in Southeast Alaska.” Research & Development Treesearch (1996):  Web. 24 Sept. 2016.

8. KRÜGER, OLIVER. “Age at First Breeding and Fitness in Goshawk.” Journal of Animal Ecology 74 (2005): 266-73. Mar. 2005. Web. 21 Sept. 2016.

9.Mcclaren, Erica L., Patricia L. Kennedy, and Sarah R. Dewey. “Do Some Northern Goshawk Nest Areas Consistently Fledge More Young Than Others?” The Condor104.2 (2002): 343-52. Web. 24 Sept. 2016.

10.Reynolds, Richard T., Russell T. Graham, and M. Hildegard Reiser. “Management Recommendations for the Northern Goshawk in the Southwestern United States.” Research & Development Treesearch (1992): Web. 24 Sept. 2016.

Image Bibliography

(Use is via Creative Commons)

1. Delaney, Don. Adult Northern Goshawk. 2014. Gold Bar Park, Edmonton. Flickr 23 Sept. 2016.

2. Llewellyn, Tony. Northern Goshawk. 2011. South Wales. Flickr. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.

3. Donaldson, John. Northern Goshawk. 2015. Flickr. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.

4. Galick, Sam. Northern Goshawk & Cooper’s Hawk. 2012. Cape May, NJ. Flickr. Web. 25 Sept. 2016.