{"id":3336,"date":"2020-11-20T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-20T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol325\/?p=3336"},"modified":"2020-12-04T19:13:11","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T19:13:11","slug":"northern-goshawk-the-ghost-of-the-forest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol325\/2020\/11\/20\/northern-goshawk-the-ghost-of-the-forest\/","title":{"rendered":"Northern Goshawk: The ghost of the forest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduction:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the forest floor, tall Douglas fir trees around you stretch their arms to the sky. Sunlight dances through the canopy onto the forest floor, illuminating the green leaves surrounding your home. Life down on the ground ain’t so bad. Heck, life as a rabbit ain’t so bad. While birds sing in the tree tops, a fresh breeze swirls across your back. Nature’s silence. A few moments later you hear a crash. As you turn to see what’s caused the commotion you’re faced with this. Eyes locked onto you like a missile, silent wing beats allowed this predator to show up right behind you. It may be half your size but it’s faster than you. You try to turn and run. Within a moment you’ve been ambushed and trapped beneath the claws of a Northern Goshawk without a hope of escaping. These are the tales of the forest ghost’s victims. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Hunting
Figure 1. Northern Goshawk mid flight after a meal. Photo credits: Hawkins Flaconry<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Description:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis<\/em>) is a stout, stealthy hunter and a powerful predator (Aubudon, 2020<\/a>). It’s species name comes from the latin word gentilis meaning “of or belonging to the same family” (Wordsense.eu<\/a>). They are the largest of the group, you guessed it, the accipiter hawks, also known as the true hawks. Related to their locally known smaller cousins the cooper’s and sharp-shinned hawks, the Goshawks are much more inconspicuous. They are the largest in the family Accipitridae. Out of the 50 species in the family, the sizes range from the thrush sized sparrowhawk of Africa, up to a Goshawk, which is the same size as a red-tailed hawk (Britannica, 2019<\/a>). The species is reverse dimorphic meaning the females are larger than the males. Ranging from 53-64 cm tall, 0.6-1.4 kg heavy and a wingspan up to 117 cm (All about birds<\/a>). They are agile hunters using the element of surprise and speed to their advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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