Norbert Kenntner, Berlin - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1062838
| Accipiter gentilis |
I have, as of about 4 hours ago, finished reading Helen
MacDonald’s H is for Hawk (which I will be reviewing this time tomorrow)
and am left with mixed feelings about the goshawk as a result. It is both a
fierce and deadly yet beautiful and beguiling bird – the latter feature
courtesy of falconry taming, the former the result of its innate and hungry bloodlust.
Its plumage is a riot of monochromatic pattern across the
breast and upper legs, each white feather striated with blunt, grey arrow-head markings,
while the back, head, and upper tail and wings are a mix of deep brown and
steely grey, the underwing and under-tail a creamy white. The legs, however, protruding
from their striped trouser of feathers, are almost vibrantly yellow, and their
eyes, browed by a white stripe, are a brilliant, fiery reddish orange.
With a 3-4ft/1-1.25m wingspan and weighing in at between
18-48oz/500g-1.3kg (the upper sizes being for females, who are larger than the
males), you can just imagine seeing this immense bird swooping, wings
outstretched, towards your waiting glove, feeling its full weight collide with
and settle onto your fist. Although, despite being the largest of the hawks,
when compared with the rest of the Accipitridae family – which, in the
UK, includes the Golden Eagle (7ft/2m wingspan and up to 15lb/6.7kg) – the Goshawk
is tiny. But the average person will be just as, if not more, likely to see
this elegant predator naturally on the wing.
It is commonly found throughout Wales and the
England-Scotland border, with a few scattered residential roosts across England,
in wooded farmland, sparse, mature conifer forests, and hillsides. They can be
spotted between late winter and early spring, ranging over their woodland
territories, performing a ‘sky-dance’ to attract a mate. When they pair up, they
will construct a large plateau of sticks and greenery close to the trunk of a
tall tree, into which an annual brood of 2-4 eggs will be laid between March
and June. The young become independent after about 3 months, during which time
(and for up to 2 years afterwards) their plumage is distinct from the adults,
bearing more vertical tear-shaped markings on the breast and an overall browner
colouration. Before fledging, they will also participate in ‘branching’,
perching around the nest before they are ready to fly.
Their diet is meat-based, as with all birds of prey, and
includes other birds such as woodpigeons, game birds and even crows, as well as
squirrels, rabbits, and other mammals. Their hunting method is typically to sit
in a tree and wait until prey is spotted before swooping, but they are even
known to chase prey on the ground in denser habitats. They will then consume
their catch where it is caught, wings dropped and umbrellaed over it, or else they
will carry smaller prey to a perch. If tomorrow’s review helps to convince you to
read H is for Hawk, you will know how exhilarating and yet frightening
this hunt can be. But also how intelligent and awesome the Goshawk is too!
Facts taken from: the RSPB, Woodland Trust, the Hawk
and Owl Trust, and the RSPB’s ‘Birds of Britain and Europe’ Guidebook by Rob
Hume.
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/animals/birds/goshawk/
https://hawkandowltrust.org/about-birds-of-prey/goshawk
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0241302242/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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