Grey Goshawk
Tachyspiza novaehollandiae· 鹰科(1 photos)
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Grey Goshawk
40-54 cm; span to 1.1 m. Female larger. Powerful hawk of two colour-morphs: (1) pure white; eyes bright yellow or dark red; (2) grey above, whitish below, finely barred grey; eyes dark red. Both morphs have bright yellow cere and legs. Juveniles like adults, but grey morphs browner above, somewhat more heavily barred on breast, flightfeathers and tail. Singles, pairs: watches from live, or emergent dead, trees; flies with quick, shallow wingbeats and glides on slightly depressed wings. Soars with wings slightly upswept; silhouette distinctive: wings broad and blunt, trailing edge notably convex in centre; tail shorter than Brown Goshawk.
- Other name
- Variable or White Goshawk.
- Similar Species
- Grey Falcon, Black-shouldered Kite.
- Voice
- deep mellow 'yewik, yewik, yewik, yewik', slower than Brown Goshawk. Also higher-pitched, staccato, slower than Brown.
- Habitat
- rainforests, forests; forest gullies and valleys; taller woodlands, timber on watercourses; open country in autumn dispersal.
- Breeding
- Sept.-Dec.
- Nest
- large, shallow, of sticks; high in live tree.
- Eggs
- 2-3;blue-white. Morphs may interbreed; has interbred with Brown Goshawk.
- Range & Status
- Aust. and Tas.; patchy in coastal n. Aust., from Kimberley (WA) to C. York Pen. (Q); more regular in rainforests of e. Aust. to se. SA, and w. Tas.; casual Adelaide, Kangaroo I. (SA). Grey morph predominates on e. coast; white morph across n. Aust. and in Tas., w. Vic., although birds in se. SA are grey morph. Sedentary; seasonally dispersive. Uncommon to rare.
