Eurasian goshawk
Amazing fact
Eurasian goshawks sometimes store prey on tree branches or tucked between branches.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
No sign-up needed. You can save notes on this device.
An illustration based on the real animal.
A little discovery to share.
Eurasian goshawks sometimes store prey on tree branches or tucked between branches.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Eurasian goshawk
- Scientific name
- Accipiter gentilis
- Japanese name
- オオタカ
- Group
- Birds
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Genus
- Accipiter
A crow-sized hawk that raises its young in forests. In autumn and winter it can be seen in the lowlands too.
It has a thick white stripe above each eye, and crosswise bars from its chest to its belly.
It catches small birds, birds up to the size of a pigeon, and small animals. In winter it may hunt ducks by the water.
How the Eurasian goshawk lives
It is active during the day. It lives alone or as a pair. Around nest building or repair, a pair performs an aerial display to announce its territory. Nestlings may make a whistling call to ask for food.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Size
- Total length: 50–56 cmWingspan: 110–130 cm日本野鳥の会 BIRD FAN
- Weight
- 631–1,364 gUniversity of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Active
- By day (diurnal)University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Diet
- Medium to large birds, mammals, invertebrates and reptilesUniversity of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Range
- North America and EurasiaUniversity of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Conservation status in Japan
- Near Threatened (NT)Assessed as Accipiter gentilis fujiyamaeMinistry of the Environment of Japan, 5th Red List (2026)
Where the Eurasian goshawk has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 日本語
- オオタカ
- 简体中文
- 苍鹰
- 繁體中文
- 蒼鷹
- 한국어
- 참매
- Español
- Azor común
- Français
- Autour des palombes
- Deutsch
- Habicht
- Português (Brasil)
- Açor
- Italiano
- Astore
- العربية
- باز شمالي
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Elang alap eurasia
- Tiếng Việt
- Ó ngỗng
- Русский
- Ястреб-тетеревятник
- Türkçe
- Bayağı çakır kuşu
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 日本野鳥の会 BIRD FAN — オオタカChecked: 2026-11-03
- 島根県 — 法吉の鳥類（自然観察モデルコース 松江市法吉地区）Checked: 2026-11-03
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Accipiter gentilisChecked: 2026-11-03
- Ministry of the Environment of Japan, 5th Red List (2026)Checked: 2026-11-07
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
The conservation status in Japan is the category in the Red Lists of the Ministry of the Environment of Japan, which assess the risk of extinction for wild animals in Japan.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
Report a mistakeRELATIVES
Others in Accipitridae
MORE TO MEET
