GOSHAWKS SPREAD THEIR WINGS

After bouncing back from extinction in the UK, research shows this elusive 'phantom of the forest' is expanding its range

- Helen Pilcher

After more than a century of persecution, things are finally looking up for the goshawk, one of the UK's most spectacular and elusive birds of prey. Research from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) suggests the birds' range is expanding and that we could even see goshawks in our cities and parks in the future.

In the late 19th century, deforestation, pesticide use and persecution by gamekeepers pushed the species to extinction in the UK, but in the late 1960s falconers prompted a population recovery by importing goshawks from Europe. The birds did well and today the UK is home to more than 1,200 pairs of goshawks; strongholds are in the New Forest, southern Scotland, northern England and Wales.