Bird Hunters part 3: Stealth assassins

The third type of bird-hunting bird in this series is the stealth hunter. The prime exponents of this method are the goshawks and their close relatives, the sparrowhawks.

Goshawks occasionally soar around above the treetops but they don’t dive on prey from above like the eagles and the larger hawks and kites. Goshawks hunt by ambush, attack without warning, stealth strikes.

Goshawks have sharp eyes, dangerous talons and strong wings that give them great agility, speed and manoeuvrability. They will sit patiently for hours sometimes waiting for a prey species to make themselves vulnerable. It may be a honeyeater drinking at flowers, a pigeon or quail feeding on the ground, or a rodent or reptile. Suddenly the goshawk launches, effortlessly navigating through trees or under bushes and slamming onto the prey with arched feet. They can execute rapid turns, sudden dives, bush crashing, short wild pursuits, a testament to their superb physical design.

They are just as formidable in low-light dawn and dusk with their finely tuned eyesight, and their combination of speed and surprise -often ambushing from a concealed perch – makes them effective deadly hunters. These tactics work in a variety of habitats from dense forest to urban backyard with a few trees, which is why these birds are frequently observed in many places and often photographed.

Once the hunt is successfully completed, the goshawk or sparrowhawk will sit on a patch of open grass, plucking and dismembering the hapless bird, often to the accompaniment of outraged shrieks and chirps from many birds in the neighbourhood, which are blithely ignored. See Ron’s story here

It is famously difficult to tell the difference between the Brown Goshawk (Tachyspiza fasciata) and the Collared Sparrowhawk (Tachyspiza cirrocephalus). Briefly, the BG is larger with a rounded tail, the CS is smaller and finer with a square tail. There are other goshawks and sparrowhawks in Australia but these two are quite common around the district. It is also possible to see the Grey Goshawk (Tachyspiza novaehollandiae) anywhere in Victoria and if one is very lucky the pure white form of this bird may present a fleeting rapturous view.