Northern goshawks

The Accipitridae family of true hawks includes the Northern Goshawk species. These hawks, which mostly live in temperate woodlands, have long tails and short, wide wings. They have a large beak, short legs, and thick toes. Their top bodies have a bluish- to brownish-grey tint with a few black streaks here and there. Their undersides are less striped and have a softer hue. Northern goshawks are sexually dimorphic, meaning that females are substantially bigger than males.

Both coniferous and deciduous woodlands are home to northern goshawks. Despite assertions to the contrary, the species does not appear to have strong overall preferences or even a preference between deciduous and coniferous trees, even though they may exhibit strong regional preferences for specific trees. The composition of a particular tree stand, which should consist of tall, old-growth with moderate to high canopy covering (typically more than 40%), and minimum dense undergrowth, both of which are beneficial for hunting circumstances, is more significant than the type of trees. Additionally, goshawks often need to be close to openings so they may do extra hunting.

Strong hunters, northern goshawks hunt in heavily forested areas, employing the cover as an ambush for their prey. They are opportunistic predators that may eat small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and insects, much like the other raptors. They typically feed on pigeons, woodpeckers, pheasants, thrushes, and corvids in the avian family whereas their main food among mammals is rabbits, hares, and squirrels.