Eurasian goshawk
species of bird
The Eurasian goshawk (; Astur gentilis) is a species of medium-large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, a family which also includes other extant diurnal raptors, such as eagles, buzzards and harriers. It was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter. It is a widespread species that inhabits many of the temperate parts of Eurasia. Except in a small portion of southern Asia, it is the only species of "goshawk" in its range and it is thus often referred to, both officially and unofficially, as simply goshawk. It is mainly resident, but birds from colder regions migrate south for the winter. As of 2023, goshawks found in North America are no longer considered to be conspecific, but are now designated as the American goshawk (Astur atricapillus).
Taxonomy
The Eurasian goshawk was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Falco gentilis. It was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter. When molecular phylogenetic studies found that Accipiter was polyphyletic, the genus was split to create monophyletic genera. The genus Astur was resurrected to accommodate the Eurasian goshawk and eight other species that had previously been placed in Accipiter.
The public source identifies “Eurasian goshawk” as species of bird. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Eurasian, goshawk and species.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q137474876. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2023 and 1758.
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This entry incorporates text from “Eurasian goshawk” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.