Animalia Life

Accipiter gentilis
SUBFAMILY
Accipitrinae
TAXONOMY
Falco gentilis Linnaeus, 1758, Alps. Eight subspecies.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: European goshawk; French: Autour des palombes; German: Habicht; Spanish: Azor Comъn.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
18.9–27.2 in (48–69 cm); male 18.2–41.3 oz (515–1170 g); female 28.9–53.3 oz (820–1510 g). Brownish gray upperparts and barred underparts with geographical variation among subspecies in size, plumage, and color.
DISTRIBUTION
A.g. gentilis: Europe and northwest Africa. A.g. arrigonii: Corsica and Sardinia. A.g. buteoides: Northern Eurasia from Sweden to River Lena, wintering south to central Europe and central Asia. A.g. albidus: Siberia and Kamchatka. A.g. schvedowi: Asia from the Urals to Amurland and south to central China, wintering south to the Himalayas and Indochina. A.g. fujiyamae: Japan. A.g. atricapillus: North America. A.g. laingi: Queen Charlotte and Vancouver Islands, British Columbia.
HABITAT
Mature woodlands—mainly coniferous, also deciduous and mixed—especially edges and clearings; from lowlands to the treeline. Occasionally in small isolated woods and town parks.
BEHAVIOR
Mainly sedentary. Migratory in northernmost parts of range, departs mainly October–November and returns March–April. Irruptions of goshawks from Arctic, some reaching southern limits of
DISTRIBUTION
, following seasons of superabundant prey, about every 10 years.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Hunts by day; takes small to medium-sized birds and mammals as large a grouse or hare, mainly on the ground. Prey varies geographically.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Nests as solitary pair in large territory. Monogamous. Builds a stick nest, lined with fresh leaves, in the fork, or on a branch near the trunk, of a large tree. Lays in April–May; most common clutch three or four eggs; incubation about 36 days; fledging at about five or six weeks.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened. Decline in Europe since nineteenth century but populations now mostly stable and some recovering. Extinct in Britain since 1800s because of pesticides, persecution, nest robbing for falconry, and deforestation; re-established in the late 1960s apparently from escaped falconers’ birds. Population stable in North America, increasing in Russia. Still killed in places (e.g., Finland) by hunters and vulnerable to poisoning from baits left for other predators. Reforestation is beneficial.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Used by falconers for centuries. Remains the most popular hawk among falconers.

Other popular Animals