Northern Goshawk (gentilis) [XC631168]
by Jarek Matusiak from Hagenheimer Wald S\u00fcd, Hofstetten (near Landsberg), Upper Bavaria, Bavaria, Germany (call)
Northern Goshawk (gentilis) [XC637803]
by Frank Holzapfel from Uppsala, Uppsala l\u00e4n, Sweden (call)
Nest
A substantial platform of sticks, in a tree.
Eggs (Guide)
4; white or pale bluish; ellipsoidal. Incubation: 28 - 29 days; by female.
Subspecies
May form superspecies with Black Sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus), Henst's Goshawk (Accipiter henstii) and even Meyer's Goshawk (Accipiter meyerianus). Internal taxonomy somewhat confused. American subspecies may merit treatment as distinct species. Separate subspecies have been awarded to birds from western and central Europe (gallinarum), Spain and northern Africa (kleinschmidti), south-eastern Europe (marginatus), and south-western USA and north-western Mexico (apache), but of doubtful validity, as at least some of variation clinal. Many other dubious subspecies described.
The following 10 subspecies are recognised:
gentilis (Linnaeus, 1758) - Europe and extreme north-western Africa.
arrigonii (Kleinschmidt, O, 1903) - Corsica and Sardinia.
buteoides (Menzbier, 1882) - Extreme northern Eurasia, from northern Sweden east to R Lena. Winters south to central Europe and central Asia.
albidus (Menzbier, 1882) - North-eastern Siberia to Kamchatka.
schvedowi (Menzbier, 1882) - Asia, from Urals to Amurland, Sakhalin and Kuril Is, south to central China. Winters south to Himalayas and northern Indochina.
fujiyamae (Swann & Hartert, 1923) - Japan.
marginatus (Piller & Mitterpacher, 1783) - Italy and the Balkans to Caucasus and northern Iran.
atricapillus (Wilson, A, 1812) - North America, south to Tennessee and southern Arizona (USA) and Jalisco (western Mexico).
laingi (Taverner, 1940) - Queen Charlotte Is and Vancouver I, British Columbia (western Canada).
apache van Rossem, 1938 - South-western USA, north-western Mexico.
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7
BirdLife International Species Factsheet