Goshawk - description, habitat, interesting facts

By a hawk is meant a bird of prey, which belongs to the hawk-like family and the class of newly-raised ones. This family is distinguished by its agility in terms of flight speed and large size. Some experts call birds individuals with a keen eye and flying at the speed of light. This is partly true information, the individual freezes for a long time in the sky, looking for prey, and then with all its speed of flight rushes down. By their color, the hawks are mottled and pockmarked, beautiful, standing out from the rest. But we will not immediately touch on the main thing, let's get to the bottom of the matter.

Description

1. Birds are famous for their overall features, the goshawk is considered the largest representative of the family. Volumetric build leads to the fact that the birds of this breed group by body weight grow up to 1.5 kg.
2. The hawk reaches 70 cm in length, and its single wing is about 35 cm. While other members of the family have wings grow to a maximum of 15–25 cm. There is also a sparrow, also belonging to the hawk family. Its body weight is only 120 grams, and the whole body varies in length at around 30 cm. This is so, for comparison.
3. Feathers are always on the head of individuals, the same can be said about the legs and upper section of the neck. Since the goshawk is a predator by nature, its beak should comply with all standards for birds of this orientation. It is bent and directed downward, strong, small in size.
4. To understand that this is a bird of this variety, just look at the top of the beak. There is no hawt prong characteristic of the family. In the area of ​​the base of the beak is a bare skin area called a wax. Nostrils are located in this area.
5. As for the shade of the eyes, their color is characteristic of all hawks. The iris is orange, yellowish, very yellow or reddish. Also, the eyes may be brown or gray-brown. In birds, the shade of the eyes changes over time, often the color becomes lighter, but not necessary.
6. Individuals of this pedigree species are famous for their sharp vision, birds see 8-10 times better than humans. The set of eyes is not lateral, as in many representatives of the family, but straight. That is, both eyes are directed to the front, so that hawks perfectly see simultaneously with two eyes. Birds do not need to turn their heads, because even without them they notice prey over a long distance.
7. In addition, they have a well-developed hearing aid, but the olfactory receptors work very poorly. It is interesting that all birds of prey, including individuals represented, do not pick up odors in their nostrils, as many are accustomed to suppose, namely, the oral cavity. For this reason, if, when kept in captivity, an individual takes a piece of the missing meat, it will soon get rid of it due to an unpleasant odor.
8. The type of birds under discussion is painted in dark shades from the upper part. This may be the plumage of a brown, grayish, slate or brownish-black tone. From the bottom section, the body is light, that is, yellowish, whitish, buffy. Young growth has dark stripes on a white background of the lower part of the body.
9. Of course, not every individual has a dark coloring. In nature, there are purely light birds that have dark stripes. Even birds of the same family can have completely different plumage in terms of color gamut. For example, goshaws from Kamchatka and the southern regions are completely different. Some are purely whitish, others, on the contrary, are dark. Scientists still have not found an explanation for this.
10. The paws have a yellowish tint, the same color is the open skin in the nostrils. The nails are long, the grip is strong for birds of this size. Fingers may vary in thickness and length depending on the age category. There are no feathers on them, the legs themselves are very developed in terms of musculature.

Diet

1. The nutrition of the individual in question is based on small birds. In addition, hawks prey on various rodents and less often on insects. Some species of birds of this family prey on snakes, toads, lizards, frogs and fish.
2. The diet of these representatives of the species is mainly based on small birds. Hawks often attack reels, buntings, finches, dippers, wagtails, lentils, warblers, warblers, kings, bugs, crossbills, blackbirds, redstarts, sparrows, etc.
3. In addition, the considered individuals prey on game of larger sizes. Quite often, partridge, pigeons, waterfowl, crows, pheasants, spotted woodpeckers, and hazel grouse can be included in their menus. In addition, hawks carry mice, rabbits, hares, ermines and squirrels.
4. Often there are such cases that the presented individuals prey even on bats. Also hawks were repeatedly seen hunting for guinea fowl. Similar cases were recorded in Africa. These were song hawks. In addition, such birds have repeatedly feasted on mongooses.
5. Often hawks are not prone to prolonged soaring at altitude in search of prey. A similar prerogative is precisely the eagles. The latter are basically the only way to hunt. Presented hawks are cunning and very brave individuals.
6. Goshawks patiently track prey and at the right, unexpected moment for the victim, attack it. Also, hunting often takes place in a wooded area. Such birds fly between the trees and grab everything that they pass for food.
7. At the same time, it is not difficult for hawks to hunt for a moving target either that is in one place. As soon as the hawk grabs prey, he begins to squeeze it heavily with its paws. As a result, the predator pierces the body of the victim with sharp claws, killing it in flight. In this case, hawks completely eat their prey, not even leaving feathers.

Breeding

1. It is worth noting that the individuals of this group are monogamous birds of prey. Moreover, loyalty among the couple remains until the end of life. Such hawks reproduce offspring once a year. Often, the mating season in such individuals begins in mid-spring.
2. These predators arrange their housing well in advance of the mating season. They can build nests on their own or occupy already finished ones, taking away from other birds. Do not lose sight of the fact that these individuals are quite impressive in size.
3. It is because of this characteristic feature that they build fairly large nests. The diameter of the hawk dwelling can reach up to 1 m. Often, if the birds begin to build a nest on their own, they try to place it on the tops of tree crowns.
4. For 1 time, the female is able to lay up to 5 eggs. After that, she begins to start hatching them. The duration of such a procedure can last more than 1 month. As soon as the young growth is born, the mother continues to sit with them for about another 20 days.
5. All this time, the male intently guards and feeds the family. And only after 3 months, the chicks become completely independent. They are quite able to fly far from the nest and independently get their own food.

Habitat

1. Hawks have a very large habitat. They live in almost all of Eurasia. Also, their homeland can be Africa, Australia, Indonesia, America, the Philippines, Madagascar, Tasmania and Ceylon.
2. In addition, such individuals can be found both in the mountains and on the plains.In addition, hawks feel very good in the jungle, various forests, savannahs, etc. Despite the fact that individuals can live in the forests, they try not to climb deeper. They prefer the edges and woodlands.

Interesting Facts

It is worth noting that the individuals in question are among the most skilled hunters. Such birds can wait a long time for their prey. Hawks for a very long time and closely monitor the victim. As soon as prey emerges from the hole, the hawk quickly grabs it.

The entire hawk family deserves special attention. Therefore, today we examined one of the representatives of this breed group. Goshawks lead a hidden lifestyle, partly because of this they have not been thoroughly studied. These individuals are under the protection of the relevant organizations; strict numbers are kept for their numbers. Thanks to today's material, you learned all about goshaws.

Video: Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis)