Throwing caution to the wind

Spring is the time to see the muscular and noble goshawk, usually as elusive as a ghost circling and swooping through the sky

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FEW of our birds of prey are more difficult to see than the goshawk (Accipiter gentilis). Part of this challenge is simply being able to separate it from the more numerous, but smaller sparrowhawk. On paper, the two look radically different. Big female goshawks can weigh more than 4ib (2kg) and have a wingspan of 5ft (1.6m), which is longer even than a common buzzard’s. They can be as much as 10 times the weight of a small male sparrowhawk.

On average, all goshawks are bigger, broader-winged birds with thickset bodies. They possess a heavy, rounded chest that reinforces the impression of muscularity and power. Yet closer inspection can be necessary: the two species overlap and the largest female sparrowhawks are actually larger than some goshawk males.

"Goshawks were valued because they combined fierceness with tractability'