Grey goshawk

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Grey goshawk

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Genus: Accipiter
Species:
A. novaehollandiae
Binomial name
Accipiter novaehollandiae
(Gmelin, JF, 1788)
White morph

The grey goshawk (Accipiter novaehollandiae) is a strongly built, medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae that is found in eastern and northern Australia. The white morph of this species is known as the white goshawk.

Taxonomy

The grey goshawk was

Falco and coined the binomial name Falco novaehollandiae.[2] Gmelin based his description on the "New Holland white eagle" that had been described in 1781 by the English ornithologist John Latham. Latham in turn had based his short description on information provided by Johann Forster who had accompanied James Cook on his second voyage to the Pacific Ocean.[3] Two specimens had been collected in March 1773 at Adventure Bay in Tasmania.[4] The grey goshawk is now one of 49 species placed in the genus Accipiter that was introduced in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson.[5][6] The genus name is Latin for "hawk", from accipere, "to grasp". The specific epithet novaehollandiae is Modern Latin for "New Holland", the name given to western Australia by early Dutch explorers. In ornithology the name is used for eastern Australia, especially New South Wales.[7] The grey goshawk has no recognised subspecies.[6]

Description

The grey morph has a pale grey head and back, dark wingtips, barred grey breast and tail, and white underparts. The white morph is the only bird of prey in the world to be entirely white.[citation needed]

Grey goshawks are the largest

Solomon islands is much smaller however, with a female found to have weighed 245 g (8.6 oz) and two males averaging 180 g (6.3 oz).[9]

Distribution and habitat

The grey goshawk is found along the coasts of northern, eastern and south-eastern Australia, Tasmania and rarely Western Australia. The variable goshawk was previously considered a subspecies.

Their preferred habitats are forests, tall woodlands, and timbered watercourses.

Behaviour and ecology

Food and feeding

Grey goshawks often seem to vary their prey selection opportunistically. For an Accipiter, they relatively often select

Pigeons and parrots are a popular prey item for grey goshawks. Evidence indicates that this species is less agile in the air and less skilled at twisting pursuits over the ground than co-occurring brown goshawks but, on the other hand, the grey species is more powerful and so select typically larger prey.[8][10][11]

Hunting is often done by stealth, but grey goshawks are willing to pursue their prey before catching it with their

talons
.

Breeding

Grey and white goshawks interbreed freely. They partner for life, breeding from July to December. They nest in tall trees on a platform of sticks and twigs with a central depression lined with green leaves. The female lays a clutch containing 2 or 3 eggs, which are

fledge
35–40 days after hatching.

The female is usually responsible for incubating the eggs and feeding the young. The male does most of the hunting.[12]

Conservation status

State of Tasmania

  • This species is "endangered" in Tasmania.[13]

State of Victoria (Australia)

  • The grey goshawk is listed as "threatened" on the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988.[14] Under this Act, an "Action Statement" for the recovery and future management of this species has not been prepared.[15]
  • On the 2007 advisory list of threatened vertebrate fauna in Victoria, this species is listed as vulnerable.[16]

State of Queensland

  • This species is listed as "least concern" in Queensland.[17]

Gallery

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22727714A94958201.en
    . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  2. ^ Gmelin, Johann Friedrich (1788). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae : secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis (in Latin). Vol. 1, Part 1 (13th ed.). Lipsiae [Leipzig]: Georg. Emanuel. Beer. p. 264.
  3. ^ Latham, John (1785). A General Synopsis of Birds. Vol. 3, Part 1. London: Printed for Leigh and Sotheby. p. 435.
  4. JSTOR 4080770
    .
  5. ^ Brisson, Mathurin Jacques (1760). Ornithologie; ou, Méthode contenant la division des oiseaux en ordres, sections, genres, espéces & leurs variétés (in French). Vol. 1. Paris: Jean-Baptiste Bauche. pp. 28, 310.
  6. ^
    Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2022). "Hoatzin, New World vultures, Secretarybird, raptors"
    . IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  7. ISBN 978-1-4081-2501-4
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 0-618-12762-3
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4200-6444-5
    .
  10. ^ Olsen, P. D., Debus, S. J. S., Czechura, G. V., & Mooney, N. J. (2016). Comparative feeding ecology of the grey goshawk Accipiter novaehollandiae and brown goshawk Accipiter fasciatus. Australian Field Ornithology, 13(6).
  11. ^ Cupper, J., & Cupper, L. (1981). Hawks in focus: A study of Australia's birds of prey. Harrell Books.
  12. ^ "Birds in Backyards - Grey Goshawk". Archived from the original on 2007-12-14. Retrieved 2007-04-14.
  13. ^ https://www.threatenedspecieslink.tas.gov.au/Pages/Grey-Goshawk.aspx
  14. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20050718182613/http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/DSE/nrenpa.nsf/LinkView/EADA0F1874AF9CF24A2567C1001020A388BBA5581CF9D859CA256BB300271BDB
  15. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20060911130015/http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/DSE/nrenpa.nsf/LinkView/617768308BCB666E4A25684E00192281E7A24BB36FF60A144A256DEA00244294
  16. ISBN 978-1-74208-039-0
    .
  17. ^ "Species profile—Accipiter novaehollandiae (grey goshawk)". Environment, land and water - Queensland Government. Queensland Government. Retrieved 28 December 2020.

External links
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