African Goshawk ( Accipiter tachiro, family: Accipitridae)

african goshawk kruger national park birds The African Goshawk (Latin name Accipiter tachiro) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 160 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 512 also a picture of the African Goshawk on page 433. The African Goshawk belongs to the family of birds classified as Accipitridae.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The African Goshawk is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the African Goshawk in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. African Goshawk : see above distribution map.

African Goshawk Kruger ParkIdentification assistance for this avian species ...

The African Goshawk is a bird about the size of a Francolin now called Spurfowl. The height of the African Goshawk is about 38 cms and its weight is about 225 gms

You will find that the male African Goshawk plumage and colours are different to that of the female African Goshawk

  • Head is grey.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is grey.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is brown.
  • Legs are yellow.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The African Goshawk feeds on the ground mainly

Reptiles

Other Birds

Smaller animals

Invertebrates

Aquatic life forms

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The African Goshawk is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Accipiter tachiro will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of African Goshawk is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 1 to 3

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for African Goshawk are: woodlands and grasslands and riverine areas. Comments about the African Goshawk :diet mostly other birds.

You will normally see the African Goshawk by itself rather than in the company of birds of the same species.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... iKlebe/iMvumvuyane

Afrikaans ...Afrikaanse Sperwer

German ... Afrikanischer Sperber, Tachirosperber

Portuguese ... Aor-africano

French ... Autour tachiro

Dutch ... Afrikaanse Havik

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 160

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za