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Threatened Wildlife
Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis
How it Looks
This is a large, sturdy hawk. Like other Accipiters, it has a fairly long tail and long wings with rounded tips. It is about 60 cm long, with a wingspan of about 1.2m. It weighs between 0.6 and 1.5 kg. The females are larger than the males. Its most noticeable feature is its white eyestripe over a blood-red eye. The dark head and cheeks make this eyestripe look very bright. The back is blue-grey. Underparts are light grey with darker bars. The coastal subspecies A. g. laingi is smaller and much darker all over, except for the eyestripe, which is still white. The northern goshawk’s call is a harsh "kak-kak-kak".
Home Sweet Home
The northern goshawk builds a large nest of sticks next to the trunk of a tree or at the top of a broken trunk. The nest may be as large as 1.5 m across and nearly 1 m deep. It is lined with bark and fresh conifer twigs. Nests are usually built in old-growth or mature coniferous forests or mixed coniferous and deciduous forests. The nest site is usually near a permanent water source.
This is the Life
Two to four eggs are usually laid in April or early May. They are incubated by the female and hatch in 36-38 days. The young goshawks can fly about 45 days later. On average, only two chicks survive to fledge.
The females do most of the work of rearing the young, defending the nest territory, etc.
Males deliver food to the females while they are incubating, then both parents feed the young. The males usually stay with the young for longer than the females. Females are often more aggressive around the nest territory but males perform aerial displays to warn other birds where their nests are.
One captive goshawk lived for nearly 19 years. They have been known to live for up to nine years in the wild.
A pair of goshawks will use the same nesting territory year after year. Within this territory they will use 2-4 nesting sites in different years.
Goshawks like to hunt at the edges of the forest, and within areas of forest that are not too crowded with undergrowth. They rely on high speed, twisting and turning quickly among the trees, to take their prey by surprise. They kill their prey by squeezing with their powerful feet, driving their sharp claws into the victim’s body.
What’s on the Menu?
Squirrels, snowshoe hares, lemmings, crows, grouse, jays, thrushes and other small to medium-sized birds and mammals are the main items in the northern goshawk’s diet. They also eat some caterpillars and beetle grubs. Even owls are sometimes eaten, if their daytime roosts are discovered.
Where and When
The northern goshawk is found in much of Europe, Asia and North America. It breeds in most of Canada except the high Arctic and the southern prairies. In the winter it can be found as far south as northern Mexico.
In British Columbia, it breeds on Vancouver Island and most of the other large islands. It is not known if it breeds on the Queen Charlotte Islands, though. It also breeds in most of the rest of British Columbia except the Coast Ranges. Northern goshawks can be found all over the province outside breeding season, especially in the northern interior.
How They’re Doing
There are at least two subspecies of northern goshawk in British Columbia ¾ A. g. atricapillus and A. g. laingi. The commonest one, A. g. atricapillus, is doing quite well. The subspecies A. g. laingi, which lives on the coastal islands of British Columbia, is not so fortunate. Large-scale timber harvesting has removed much suitable habitat. More will disappear. As well as this, there are no more than a few hundred pairs of A. g. laingi altogether in the province. A. g. laingi is therefore included on the British Columbia Wildlife Branch Red List as a Threatened species. All northern goshawks are protected by the Wildlife Act.
A third, unnamed subspecies of goshawk, much smaller than the other two, is believed by some ornithologists to live on Vancouver Island.
How We’re Helping
The Forest Practices Act ensures that habitat suitable for the northern goshawk will be preserved during logging activities.
How You Can Help
Northern goshawks are not very tolerant of humans near their nests. If a nest is discovered, it is best to keep a good distance away. The hawks may even attack a human who strays too close to the nest tree.
Report sightings of birds and nests to the Conservation Data Centre in Victoria. This will help to provide more information about the numbers of birds in the province. Exact information is needed, though. The location, date, number of birds and habitat must be known, and any behaviour you see should also be reported.
No Kidding!
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