Goshawk - description, habitat, interesting facts

A hawk is a bird of prey, which belongs to the family of hawk-like and new-class birds. This family is distinguished by its agility in terms of flight speed and large size. Some experts call birds birds with sharp eyes and flying at the speed of light. This is partly true information, an individual hangs in the sky for a long time, looking for prey, and then rushes down with all its speed of flight. In their color hawks motley and speckled, beautiful, standing out from the rest. But we will not immediately touch on the main thing, we will get an idea.

Description

1. Birds are famous for their dimensional features, goshawk is considered the largest representative of the family. The size of the body leads to the fact that the birds of this breed group by body weight grow to 1.5 kg.
2. The length of the hawk reaches 70 cm, and its one wing is about 35 cm. While in other members of the family, the wings grow to a maximum of 15-25 cm. There is also a sparrowhawk, also related to the hawk family. His body weight is only 120 g., And the whole body varies in length at around 30 cm. This is so, for comparison.
3. There are always feathers on the heads of individuals, the same can be said about the legs and the upper section of the neck. Since the goshawk is by nature a predator, its beak must comply with all standards for birds of this kind. It is bent and directed downwards, strong, small in size.
4. To understand that in front of you it is a bird of this variety, it is enough to look at the top of the upper beak. There is no characteristic of the family hawk teeth. In the area of ​​the base of the beak is exposed bare skin area, called ceres. The nostrils are located in this zone.
5. As for the shade of the eyes, their color is characteristic of all hawks. The iris is orange, yellowish, strongly yellow or reddish. Also, the eyes may be brown or gray-brown. In birds, the shade of the eyes changes over time, often the color becomes lighter, but not necessarily.
6. Individuals of this species are famous for their sharp eyesight, birds see 8-10 times better than humans. Set the eye is not lateral, as in many members of the family, but straight. That is, both eyes are sent to the front, so that hawks perfectly see both eyes at the same time. Birds do not need to turn their heads, because even without this they notice prey for a long distance.
7. In addition, they have a well-developed hearing aid, but olfactory receptors work very poorly. It is interesting that all birds of prey, including the represented individuals, catch odors not with their nostrils, as many people used to believe, namely the oral cavity. For this reason, if in captivity an individual takes a piece of missing meat, it will soon get rid of it because of an unpleasant smell.
8. The discussed type of birds from the upper part is painted in dark shades. This may be the plumage of brown, grayish, slate or brownish-black tone. From the lower section, the body is light, that is, yellowish, whitish, ocher. Juveniles have dark stripes on a white background of the lower part of the body.
9. Of course, not every individual has a dark coloring.In nature, there are purely light birds that have dark stripes. Even birds of one family can have completely different plumage in terms of colors. For example, Goshawk from Kamchatka and the southern regions are completely different. Some are whitish, others, on the contrary, are dark. Scientists have not yet found this explanation.
10. The paws have a yellowish tint, the same color as the open skin in the area of ​​the nostrils. The claws are long, the grip is strong for birds of this size. Depending on the age category, fingers may vary in thickness and length. They lack feathers, legs themselves are very well developed in terms of musculature.

Diet

1. The basis of the food of the individual in question includes small birds. In addition, hawks prey on various rodents and less often on insects. Some species of birds of the represented family hunt snakes, toads, lizards, frogs and fish.
2. The basis of the diet of these representatives of the species mainly consists of small birds. Hawks often attack finches, buntings, chaffinches, whitegrass, wagtails, lentils, warblers, warblers, blood bears, bunches, crossbills, thrushes, redstripe, sparrows, etc.
3. In addition, the specimens in question prey on game and of larger size.Often in their menu may include partridges, pigeons, waterfowl, ravens, pheasants, motley woodpeckers and hazel grouses. In addition, hawks drag mice, rabbits, hares, ermines and squirrels.
4. Often there are such cases that the represented individuals hunt even bats. Also, hawks have been spotted several times for hunting the Guinea fowl. Similar cases were recorded in Africa. They were singing hawks. In addition, these birds have repeatedly regaled mongooses.
5. Frequently hawks are not inclined to long soaring at height in search of prey. Such a prerogative precisely eagles. The latter are basically the only way to hunt. The hawks presented belong to cunning and very brave individuals.
6. Goshawk patiently track down prey and attack it at the right, unexpected moment for the victim. Also, often hunting occurs in a wooded area. Such birds fly between the trees and grab everything that they get for food.
7. At the same time, it is easy for hawks to hunt a moving target either, which is located in one place. As soon as the hawk grabs the prey, it begins to squeeze it hard with its paws. As a result, the predator pierces the victim's body with sharp claws, killing it while flying. In this case, the hawks completely eat up their prey, not even leaving feathers.

Breeding

1. It is worth noting that the individuals of the group in question belong to monogamous birds of prey. In this case, loyalty among the pair remains until the end of life. Such hawks reproduce offspring once a year. Often the mating season in such individuals begins in the middle of spring.
2. These predators are engaged in the arrangement of their housing in advance of the mating season. They can build nests on their own or occupy ready-made ones, taking them from other birds. Do not lose sight of the fact that these individuals are quite impressive in size.
3. It is because of such a characteristic feature that they build large enough nests. The diameter of a hawkish dwelling can reach up to 1 m. Often, if birds begin to build a nest on their own, they try to locate it on the tops of tree crowns.
4. For 1 time, the female is able to carry up to 5 eggs. After that, she begins to hatch them. The term of such a procedure can last more than 1 month. As soon as the young are born, the mother continues to sit with them for another 20 days.
5. All this time, the male intently guards and feeds the family. And only after 3 months, the chicks become completely independent. They are quite capable of flying away from the nest and independently obtain their own food.

Habitat

1. Hawks have a very large habitat. They live in almost all of Eurasia. Also, their homeland can be Africa, Australia, Indonesia, America, the Philippines, Madagascar, Tasmania and Ceylon.
2. In addition, such individuals can be found both in the mountains and on the plains. In addition, hawks feel very good in the jungle, various forests, savannas, etc. Despite the fact that individuals can live in forests, they try not to climb deeper. They prefer the edge and light forest.

Interesting Facts

It is worth noting that the individuals in question are among the most skillful hunters. Such birds can wait their prey for a long time. Hawks are very long and closely watching the victim. As soon as the prey comes out of the burrow, the hawk rapidly grabs it.

The whole family of hawks deserves special attention.Therefore, today we considered one of the representatives of this breed group. Goshawks lead a hidden lifestyle, partly because of this, they have not been studied thoroughly. These individuals are under the protection of the relevant organizations, for their numbers are strictly recorded. Thanks to today's material, you learned all about goshawk.

Video: Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis)