Birder’s Notebook: American Goshawk––a fast and formidable forest raptor
It was a blustery, snowy day in February—not the sort of day I usually pick to venture out on snowshoes to go birding. But it was the last day of the Great Backyard Bird Count and I wanted to document as many of the species wintering in the Nome area as possible.
On this memorable day, the last bird I expected to see as I trudged through the willows near Dexter in search of redpolls, grosbeaks and perhaps ptarmigan was an American goshawk. Suddenly a large raptor launched from low in the willows close beside me, flying powerfully through a tangle of branches. The young goshawk passed right before me, looking me over with an intense yellow eye before vanishing in the whiteout. Awestruck, I never even raised my camera. Darn! Well, it was perhaps too close for focus anyway.
The goshawk is a forest raptor of the circumpolar north. In Alaska they are year-round residents and breeders throughout the forested regions of the state. On the Seward Peninsula the goshawk range sometimes extends from the spruce forest and cottonwood stands into shrub habitats beyond.
Goshawk sightings in the Council area and in the cottonwoods along the Pilgrim River are not unusual, but over the years I’ve only seen two goshawks in the Nome area, both immature birds in winter.
Local falconer John Earthman sees them more often because they sometimes are drawn to hunt his pigeons.
The American goshawk was previously known as the northern goshawk. In 2023, based on the latest genetic evidence, the American Ornithological Society split the species into two: the American goshawk and the Eurasian goshawk.
Goshawks typically begin nesting in April when the landscape is still snow-covered.
They nest in a variety of habitats but prefer forests with open understories, often nesting in the same general area year after year. They sometimes reuse the same bulky stick nest, which is usually placed in the crotch of a large tree.
Goshawks are monogamous and form life-long pair bonds. The female is 25 percent larger than the male. The size difference allows the pair to hunt a wider variety of prey. The female incubates the eggs and defends the nest while the male ranges over their large territory to hunt for the family.
Eggs hatch in late May or early June and the young fledge in midJuly. Fledglings stay near the nest site as they develop their flight and hunting skills. Their parents supplement their food until the young disperse in August.
Normally secretive, goshawks become notoriously aggressive in defense of their nests. Approaching a nest site is perilous, even for people. They are quick to attack intruders, screaming and diving at interlopers, slashing and grabbing with sharp talons, sometimes killing other raptors seen as a threat.
Goshawks are “accipiters,” a type of hawk with powerful short, broad wings that quickly generate speed to pursue prey, and a long rudder-like tail that allows them to maneuver with exceptional speed and agility through dense forests in pursuit of prey.
The flash of a goshawk flying at lightning speed through an obstacle course of tightly spaced cottonwood trunks near Pilgrim Hot Springs is etched indelibly in my memory.
Although adapted for hunting in the trees, goshawks also hunt in the open. These stealthy raptors watch for prey from high perches, frequently changing lookouts. When prey is sighted, they make short bursts of rapid flight, reaching out with long legs and sharp talons, feetfirst, to grasp their target.
A death grip and piercing talons allow the goshawk to overcome large prey such as snowshoe hares that are more than twice their weight, as well as ptarmigan, grouse and ducks. Smaller prey including squirrels, voles, shrews, lemmings, larger songbirds and shorebirds are also taken.
Their aggressive hunting style can appear quite reckless at times when they crash feet-first through the brush in pursuit of a meal. John Earthman has seen goshawks catch his pigeons by driving them into the willows in that fashion. They will even pursue fleeing prey such as ducks into the water if necessary.
As top-level predators, goshawks occur at low population densities throughout their range. These spirited hawks fear few enemies, but, rarely, eagles and owls kill them, and climbing predators occasionally manage to evade their fierce defenses to prey on their eggs and young in nests.
While goshawks are not long-distance migrants, they may move locally to find food in winter. Winter food shortages, particularly a scarcity of snowshoe hares, ptarmigan and grouse, can reduce productivity and survival. Occasionally this results in irruptions south of the breeding range in search of food.
Since at least mid-February, the beautiful young goshawk with wild yellow eyes has been frequenting the willow thickets between Dexter and
Banner Creek, most likely lured by the abundance of ptarmigan in the area. Keep an eye out for them when driving out the Kougarok Road.
As I typed this article, these words came in from Dan Reed and Gay Sheffield in Dexter: “The goshawk is still here. Soaring over the house in the evening light. Doesn’t get much better than this.”