Northern goshawk

The northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) is a medium-large raptor in the family Accipitridae.

Northern goshawk
Northern Goshawk ad M2.jpg
Adult
Conservation status
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Accipiter
Species:
A. gentilis
Binomial name
Accipiter gentilis
Subspecies
  • Accipiter gentilis albidus
  • Accipiter gentilis apache
  • Accipiter gentilis arrigonii
  • Accipiter gentilis atricapillus
  • Accipiter gentilis buteoides
  • Accipiter gentilis fujiyamae
  • Accipiter gentilis gentilis
  • Accipiter gentilis laingi
  • Accipiter gentilis marginatus
  • Accipiter gentilis schvedowi (eastern goshawk)[2]
AccipiterGentilis.png
Range of A. gentilis      Resident      Non-breeding
Synonyms

Falco gentilis Linnaeus, 1758

Accipiter gentilis

There are other species in this genus, but this bird is spoken of as the goshawk because it has a wide range over most of Europe, Eurasia and North America.[3] Probably only the golden eagle has a wider range.

The goshawk is a "true hawk",[4] and its scientific name in Latin is Accipiter, which means "hawk".

In the Middle Ages only the nobility were permitted to fly goshawks for falconry.[5]

It is mainly a resident bird, but those from colder regions migrate south for the winter.[3] In North America, migratory goshawks are often seen migrating south along mountain ridge tops at nearly any time of the fall, depending on latitude.[6]

References

  1. 'Accipiter gentilis'. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2 (2013)International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
  2. 'Astur gentilis schvedowi AVIS-IBIS (10 September 2014). Retrieved 8 October 2019.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Ferguson-Lees, James. Raptors of the World (2001)Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-618-12762-7.
  4. Brown, Leslie. Eagles, Hawks and Falcons of the World (1986)Wellfleet. ISBN 978-1555214722.
  5. Jobling, James A.. The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names (2010). London: Christopher Helm. p. 30, 171–172. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4.
  6. Squires, J.. Northern Goshawk in'. Birds of North America 298 (1997). p. 2–27.