Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis)

The Northern Goshawk (hereafter referred to as Goshawk) is a large forest raptor, occupying boreal and temperate forests throughout the Holarctic. In North America, it breeds from Alaska to Newfoundland and south (Fig. 1). This partial migrant winters throughout its breeding range including occasionally the Great Plains and southeastern states; some individuals undergo short movements to lower elevations during winter, apparently in search of food. Irruptive movements of northern birds to the south occurs at approximately 10-year intervals that coincide with population lows of snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) and grouse.