Brown Goshawk
Tachyspiza fasciata
Heavily-built gray raptor with orange barring on chest and belly. When soaring, tail-tip is usually rounded. At a distance, appears pale gray from below, with darker wing-tips. When perched, look for heavy brow, large bill, and heavy legs. Immature has dark streaks on chest. Relatively common; pairs often circle high in the sky.
Identification
Its upperparts are grey with a chestnut collar; its underparts are mainly rufous, finely barred with white. Thus it has similar colouring to the collared sparrowhawk but is larger. The flight is fast and flexible. The body length is 40–55 cm (15.7–21.7 in); the wingspan, 75–95 cm (29.5–37.4 in). Females are noticeably larger: adult males weigh 220 g (7.8 oz), and adult females, 355 g (12.5 oz).
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Tachyspiza fasciata
- Authority
- (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827)
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Genus
- Tachyspiza
Range and habitat
The brown goshawk is widespread through Australia, Wallacea, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji. In Australia, it is found mainly in eucalypt forests and woodlands, as well as farmland and urban areas. In the Pacific, it mainly inhabits rainforest. It was also found on Norfolk Island to about 1790, and this may be another undescribed subspecies. However, the lack of specimens from Norfolk Island (1 historical skin and 9 subfossil bones is all the material that has been found) means that no genetic test can be conducted.
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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