The American Goshawk is the largest and most powerful of the forest-hunting accipiters, a formidable predator that crashes through the trees after grouse, hares, squirrels, and other sizable prey. Adults are handsome and fierce-looking — slate-gray above with finely barred pale gray underparts, a dark crown, a bold white eyebrow, and a piercing red eye — while young birds are brown and streaked. Built like a scaled-up Cooper's Hawk, it combines short, rounded wings and a long tail with heavy muscle and a fearless disposition.
Long known as the Northern Goshawk, the North American birds were recognized as a distinct species, the American Goshawk, in 2023. It is a bird of large, mature forests, breeding in the extensive coniferous and mixed woodlands of northern Michigan, where it defends its nest area aggressively and will dive at intruders who venture too close. Uncommon and secretive, it is most often seen in winter, when some birds move south, occasionally in irruption years tied to declines in prey like grouse and hares in the north.
Hunts medium-sized birds and mammals in and around forest, including grouse, jays, woodpeckers, hares, squirrels, and chipmunks, taken in fast, powerful attacks through the trees or in short pursuit. Its size lets it kill larger prey than the smaller accipiters, and its diet shifts with local prey abundance.
Yes. The North American population was recognized as a separate species, the American Goshawk, in 2023, split from the Eurasian birds now called the Eurasian Goshawk. It is the same familiar large forest accipiter.
Look for a large gray accipiter with finely barred pale underparts, a dark crown, a bold white eyebrow, and a fierce red eye. It resembles a big, heavy Cooper's Hawk but is bulkier with broader wings and a distinctive face pattern.
It is uncommon, secretive, and tied to large tracts of mature forest, mainly in the north. It is most often encountered in winter, when some birds move south, occasionally in irruption years driven by prey shortages up north.
First-year birds are brown above with thick, teardrop-shaped streaks covering the whole underside and a wavy-banded tail, quite unlike the adult's pale gray barred breast and black cap. They are also the birds most often confused with Cooper's Hawk.
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