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Eurasian Goshawks are medium-sized birds of prey. Their highly cryptic plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are slightly different. The main difference that is most readily seen in the field if a pair is found together is their relative size, with the female dwarfing its male partner. In terms of plumage, both sexes have a dark-grey crown and cheeks, with prominent white supercilia in between. Also the chin in off-white to light-grey. The front from chest to belly is light-grey with fine dark-grey barring. The vent and undertail are white. Male Eurasian Goshawks have a bluish-grey upperside, whereas the back of female Eurasian Goshawks is a somewhat paler slate-grey. Both sexes have yellow-orange irises, a grey bill with dark tip and yellow cere. The strong legs and feet are also yellow. In second-year birds the barring on the front is coarser than in adults and the back is olive-grey. Juveniles are brownish to olive with streaking down the front. Along the flanks the spots can have the form of tear drops or chevrons. The back side is dark olive-brown with heavy dark-grey scalloping. The facial pattern of adults is not yet developed.

"Raptors" (or "birds of prey"), most prominently, but also some species of waders, show a pronounced "dimorphism", i.e. a difference between male and female birds - not just in the appearance of the plumage, but in other, important properties, such as size or strength. Here we explain why.

The Eurasian Goshawk has now been given species status and is no longer considered to be conspecific with the American Goshawk (Astur [Accipiter] atricapillus), which were formerly known as two races of the Northern Goshawk ("Accipiter gentilis").

The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org .

The global distribution of the Eurasian Goshawk is available HERE .

There are currently 7 recognized extant races of the Eurasian Goshawk. Their overall range extends all across mid-latitude Eurasia, from Britain and Ireland in the West, via Asia Minor and central Asia, to Japan, Kamchatka and Siberia in the East, with two smaller populations found in south-eastern Asia. The most widespread of these is the nominate race, "gentilis".

In Europe Eurasian Goshawks are found over most of the continent, with the exception of Ireland (only few reports) and far-northern Scandinavia.

Eurasian Goshawks have a preference for deciduous and coniferous forest.

Race "gentilis"