Breeding birds: 280-430 pairs
Family: Hawks, Eagles, And Kites
The adult male goshawk has brownish-grey to slate-grey upperparts and pale grey underparts, with bold black barring on the breast, underwings, and thighs, and vertical stripes on its throat that extend to the malar area The undertail coverts are white and fluffy, and its flight feathers and tail (rectrices) are pale grey with dark barring.
Its head is black, marked by a distinctive white stripe narrowly streaked with black, that runs from the forehead to the back of the crown. The eyes are orange-red, the bill is black with a yellow cere, and the legs and feet are yellow with black talons.
Males and females have similar plumage, but females are significantly larger and heavier, with browner upperparts and yellow-orange eyes.
Juvenile goshawks have brown upperparts and pale underparts streaked with dark brown. Their white head stripe is less pronounced than in adults, and their eyes are yellow, gradually changing colour by their fourth year.
Try our interactive bird identifier
Goshawks breed between April and early June, producing one brood per season. They are monogamous, forming strong pair bonds that typically last for life, only ending when one partner dies.
Courtship displays include soaring high above the canopy before diving downward and swooping back up. They also droop their wings and flare their tails. As part of the courtship ritual, the male often presents the female with a freshly prepared prey item.
The female is primarily responsible for nest-building, constructing a large, cup-shaped structure made of sticks and lined with bark chips. The nest is usually placed in a large tree, either on a horizontal branch or in a fork close to the trunk. A pair of goshawks will maintain multiple nests within their territory, using them in alternate years.
The female lays 3–4 pale blue or dirty white eggs, which she incubates for 35–38 days. After hatching, the male does not return to the nest but leaves freshly caught and plucked prey on a nearby branch. The female tears it apart to feed herself and the nestlings. She broods the young continuously for about a week and then only at night until they are around 24 days old. The chicks fledge at 36–42 days and become independent about six weeks later. They reach sexual maturity at two years old.
Goshawks eat mainly small or medium-sized birds but will also prey on small mammals including rabbits, hares and rats. They will also take other vertebrates such as lizards.
Goshawks are scattered across the UK. They can be seen hunting over countryside near areas of woodland and forest.
The goshawk’s scientific name, means gentle hawk. It was the raptor of choice for noble Mediaeval falconers.
