| The Northern Goshawk is the largest of that group of hawks called accipiters, and is a resident of the northern forests and higher elevations in the mountains of both the east and the west. Like its relatives the Cooper's Hawk and the Sharp-shinned Hawk, the Goshawk has a relatively long tail and short, rounded wings, adaptations that provide for greater maneuverability in a woodland environment. Unlike the Cooper's and Sharp-shin, which are almost exclusively bird-eaters, the Goshawk feeds upon a variety of small and medium-sized mammals, especially snowshoe hares.
At intervals of about ten years, when the hare population crashes, large numbers of Goshawks are forced to vacate their territories and wander south-ward in search of alternate food sources. In over 35 years afield in Hamilton County, Ohio, I had encountered it only three times until the winter of 1982-83. Then a remarkable number of individuals, mostly adults, began appearing in mid-November. I encountered fifteen individuals and received reports of many others. Such "invasions" of certain northern species are not uncommon, but never before have so many Goshawks been reported this far south. One of the staple prey of the goshawk is the snowshoe hare. When the hare population cycle crashes many goshawks must begin wandering about. If the hare crash coincides with crashes in other prey populations, very few young Goshawk are raised and adults vacate their Canadian haunts.
Like many raptors, the immature and adult plumages are very different. The first-year birds are, like their cousins, clad in shades of brown and buff. The adults are dorsally blue-gray, with a black crown and a prominent whitish eye stripe. Underparts are pearly gray and finely vermiculated, and the eyes gradually change to dark red or mahogany. Especially long plumage of the lower breast completely covers the legs and feet of the roosting bird-good protection on frigid winter nights in the north.
Goshawks, being circumpolar in distribution, have long been used by falconers in other lands, not so much for sport but as a means of providing food for the table, especially rabbits, hares and pheasants. European birds average slightly larger than their American cousins, acquire an orange eye, and are much more prominently barred on the breast.
Female Goshawks are extremely defensive around the nest and will so savagely attack that the intruder-falconer, bander, photographer-is often obliged to retreat. They will often attack a person on the ground a hundred yards from the nest tree.
Being quite large, Goshawks need a considerable amount of food, difficult to find here because they must compete with the resident Red-tailed Hawks. Goshawks are by nature exceedingly bold and daring, and generally unafraid of humans. This is especially true during the invasion years. Since, like many northern birds they have very little fear of humans, they commonly center themselves around farms with free-ranging poultry-easy meal tickets. Driven by hunger, Goshawks have reportedly attacked and killed chickens at the very feet of a farmer. Fortunately, for the poultry and the farmers, Goshawk invasions are very infrequent.
Goshawks construct a bulky nest of sticks in either a deciduous or coniferous tree. The three or four eggs are incubated entirely by the female (the male provides her with food), and hatch in about five weeks. The young fledge in about six and a half weeks and remain in the vicinity for a couple of months while they learn to hunt. The adults provide supplements as needed.
Goshawk migrations are erratic and occur a bit late in the fall season-late October and throughout November-and March and early April in spring. Fall migration is most impressive at Duluth, but good numbers are often recorded at Hawk Mountain. Whitefish Point at the tip of Michigan's Upper Peninsula is one of the better places to witness the spring migration.
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