Brown goshawk

The brown goshawk, Tachyspiza fasciata, is a medium-sized bird of prey of the family Accipitridae, found across Australia and the islands to its north and east, including New Guinea, the Lesser Sunda and Moluccan islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Fiji. It was long placed in the genus Accipiter, but a 2024 molecular study showed that genus to be polyphyletic and moved the species into the resurrected genus Tachyspiza. Thirteen subspecies are recognised across its range. Adults have grey upperparts with a chestnut collar and rufous underparts finely barred with white, resembling the smaller collared sparrowhawk. The body is 40 to 55 centimetres long with a wingspan of 75 to 95 centimetres, and females are noticeably heavier than males. In Australia it lives mainly in eucalypt forest and woodland, farmland and towns, and on Pacific islands mainly in rainforest. It hunts other medium-sized birds from hidden perches or by flushing prey in undergrowth, and nests in tall trees on a platform of sticks.