Crested goshawk

Accipiter trivirgatus

(Photo from Internet Bird Collection)

Common name:

crested goshawk (en); açor-de-crista (pt); autour huppé (fr); azor moñudo (es); schopfhabicht (de)

Taxonomy:

Order Falconiformes

Family Accipitridae

Range:

This Asian species is found from Nepal and Buthan, east through southern China all the way to Hong Kong. It is found through out the Malay Peninsula, south to Sumatra and also in the Philippines.

Size:

The crested goshawk is 30-46 cm long and weighs up to 500 g.

Habitat:

They occur in broad-leafed and coniferous forest, urban parkland, and marshes. May occasionally be found in mangroves, agricultural fields and even inside wooded suburbia.

Diet:

The crested goshawk relying on surprise as it flies from a perch to catch its prey unaware. Their main preys are squirrels, rodents, bats, birds and reptiles, namely common flamebacks Dinopium javanense, black-and-yellow broadbills Eurylaimus ochromalus and the slender squirrel Sundasciurus tenuis.

Breeding:

This species breeds in December-June. They build a stick nest placed in a fork near the top of a tree. The nest is lined with green leaves and material continues to be added during incubation. The female lays 2 plain white eggs which are incubated for 28-38 days by both parents. The chicks are fed by both parents and fledge 27-31 days after hatching.

Conservation:

IUCN status - LC (Least Concern)

The crested goshawk has a very large breeding range and a global population estimated at 10.000-100.000 individuals. The population is suspected to be in decline owing to ongoing habitat destruction, but it is not considered threatened at present.