Everything you thought you didn't want to know about Goshawks

After the weather became un-blocked a few days ago - I had the chance to do a great day of hawkwatching on the strong NW winds. The numbers came through, and I had a few goodies. Most notably, 3 Goshawks! (Also a late Philly vireo and lots of finches). But let's look at the Goshawks!

First Gos of the day - a juv male. Male Goshawks often give the impression of a huge Sharp-shinned Hawk. Young birds lack the gray tones of adults (and lack the pink tones of adult Cooper's, obviously). 

When compared to a young Cooper's, they're often (95%+) coated in thick dark streaks below. Compare it to the thin streaks of this young Coopers (which is also mainly marked on the upper belly, turning to white near the tail):

coopers

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The next gos on the day, was a young female. She flew over really high, so the picture's are pretty bad, but here's one below. Female Gos' give an impression much more like a Red-shouldered Hawk (in their huge size, but also structure), compared to the "Giant Sharpie" look of the male. 

- Compare the massive size with the sharp-shin in the bottom right. Another photo (added in the top left) - show's how Buteo-like they can look when soaring. Difficult to see the streaking in this poor photo. 

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Final gos of the day was a 2 year old male, that came over lower. 

- "Giant Sharpie" structure really obvious in this photo. A strong "shoulders" like a Sharpie (not the t shape of a coop). Also obviously a Goshawk when they get their striking gray pattern on the belly. 

Aged as a 2 year old bird, by the mix of adult-like and juvenile flight feathers. The longer brown feathers are the retained Juv. feathers, giving the bird an un-even, jagged edge to the wing. This works on a lot of raptors! (Often most obvious on eagles). 

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 Yay for Goshawks!