Food
Mainly small birds and insects, such as grasshoppers, cicadas and beetles.
Voice
A slow, high-pitched, piercing 'kieek kieek kieek kieek', by male, while female has a similar but slower, more drawn out and mellow, 'kuuwieek kuuweik kuuweik'.
Grey Goshawk (Accipiter novaehollandiae) [XC646144]
by James Lambert from Charles Darwin University, Darwin Municipality, Northern Territory, Australia (begging call)
Grey Goshawk (Accipiter novaehollandiae) [XC644956]
by James Lambert from Charles Darwin University, Darwin Municipality, Northern Territory, Australia (call)
Nest
A large structure of sticks, lined with leaves, usually placed among the topmost branches of a tall tree.
Eggs (Guide)
2 - 4, usually 3; smooth, usually lustreless white with occasional blue to green tinge, or with red to purple-brown markings; oval; about 48 x 40 mm. Incubation: about 35 days; apparently by female only. Usually only one brood per season.
Young
Semi-altricial, nidicolous. Fledge in 5 - 6 weeks.
Subspecies
Island subspecies sometimes regarded as a distinct species, Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster). Moluccan griseogularis, obiensis and mortyi sometimes treated as a separate species, Accipiter griseogularis.
Subspecies natalis of Brown Goshawk (Accipiter fasciatus) may belong to Grey Goshawk (Accipiter novaehollandiae).
The following 23 subspecies are recognised:
sylvestris Wallace, 1864 - Lesser Sundas. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Lesser Sundas Goshawk (Accipiter sylvestris).
polionotus (Salvadori, 1890) - Banda I (Moluccas), Tanimbar Is. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
albiventris (Salvadori, 1875) - Tayandu I (Moluccas), Kai Is. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
obiensis (Hartert, 1903) - Obi (central Moluccas). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
griseogularis (G. R. Gray, 1860) - Northern Moluccas. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
mortyi Hartert, 1925 - Morotai (northern Moluccas). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
hiogaster (S. Müller, 1841) - Moluccas to New Guinea and Solomon Is. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
pallidiceps (Salvadori, 1879) - Buru (southern Moluccas). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
leucosomus (Sharpe, 1874) - New Guinea. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
pallidimas Mayr, 1940 - D'Entrecasteaux Is (New Guinea). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
manusi Mayr, 1945 - Admiralty Is. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
bougainvillei (Rothschild and Hartert, 1905) - Bougainville (northern Solomons). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
rufoschistaceus (Rothschild and Hartert, 1902) - Choiseul, Santa Isabel, Florida Is (central Solomon Is). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
rubianae (Rothschild and Hartert, 1905) - Central Solomon Is. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
pulchellus (Ramsay, 1881) - Guadalcanal (south-western Solomon Is). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
malaitae Mayr, 1931 - Malaita (south-eastern Solomon Is). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
misulae Mayr, 1940 - Louisiade Is (New Guinea). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
misoriensis (Salvadori, 1875) - Biak I. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
dampieri (Gurney, 1882) - New Britain. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
lavongai Mayr, 1945 - New Hanover and New Ireland (Bismarck Archipelago). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
lihirensis Stresemann, 1933 - Lihir and Tanga Is. Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
matthiae Mayr, 1945 - St Matthias I (Bismarck Archipelago). Considered by some authors to be a subspecies of Variable Goshawk (Accipiter hiogaster).
novaehollandiae (Gmelin, 1788) - Northern & eastern Australia and Tasmania.
The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Pizzey, G., and Knight, E., 1997, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 19691 5
Field Guide to Australian Birds Morecombe, M., 2000, Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd. ISBN 1 876282 10 X
Field Guide to the Birds of Australia Simpson, K., and Day, N., 1999, 6th Edition, Viking ISBN 0 670 87918 5
Reader's Digest Complete Book of Australian Birds 1988, 2nd Edition, Reader's Digest ISBN 0 949819 99 9
What Bird is That? 1984, Revised Edition, Angus & Robertson, Sydney ISBN 0 207 14846 5
Handbook of Australian, New Zealand & Antarctic Birds 1990 - , Oxford University Press, Melbourne ISBN 0 19 553244 9