Brown goshawk
| Brown goshawk | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Accipitriformes |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Genus: | Accipiter |
| Species: | A. fasciatus |
| Binomial name | |
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Accipiter fasciatus (Vigors and Horsfield, 1827) |
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The brown goshawk (Accipiter fasciatus) is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae found in Australia and surrounding islands.
Its upperparts are grey with a chestnut collar; its underparts are mainly rufous, finely barred with white. Thus it has similar colouring to the collared sparrowhawk but is larger. The flight is fast and flexible. The body length is 40–55 cm (15.7–21.7 in); the wingspan, 75–95 cm (29.5–37.4 in). Females are noticeably larger: adult males weigh 220 g (7.8 oz), and adult females, 355 g (12.5 oz).
The brown goshawk is widespread through Australia, Tasmania, Wallacea, New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji. In Australia, it is found mainly in eucalypt forests and woodlands, as well as farmland and urban areas. In the Pacific, it mainly inhabits rainforest.
Brown goshawks feed mainly on other medium-sized birds, while small mammals such as rats and rabbits are also taken. Brown goshawks often hunt near farmland or wetlands, where birds such as ducks, cockatoos and pigeons are plentiful. Smaller prey such as finches, pipits and fairy-wrens are also preyed on, right up to birds the size of domestic fowls and even large, aggressive birds such as currawongs and kookaburras. Bats, small reptiles, amphibians, and large insects are also occasionally eaten.
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Wikipedia