field guide modifications

So, do I know a lot about Northern Goshawks? I personally know little about Goshawks. But there is nobody who knows more of Goshawk habitat, migration, and distribution than what I know. All field guides need to be modified to show the true habitat, migration , and distribution of Goshawks. Very few field guides will state "Goshawks are a common species in many areas of the United States". Those same field guides then will state that the raptors are elusive. Again, my mantra, Goshawks can be an elusive species - but not in the sky. This is why birders should meet the challenge and become hawk-watchers. My other mantra - I beg for you to understand what hawk-watching is all about!

some hints

Goshawks can hunt (or protect each other) in pairs or triples. Cooper's don't. Goshawks love the wind, sun, clouds, and thermals. Cooper's don't - but do, during migration. Goshawks cavort. Cooper's don't.

field marks are tag alongs

Any birder who uses field marks to identify raptors is working under a handicap. What if the lighting conditions are of a low quality? What if the bird is turned the "wrong way"? What if leaves or limbs blog your view? How will you treat unusual plumage? What if the bird gives you a three-second look - then flies off its perch? And that raptor in the sky, giving you that 10-minute look, remains intellectually unresolved. To see a perched Goshawk is a "rare event". But this rare event is but one side of a coin. Northern Goshawks can be an elusive species, but not in the sky!

skills, insights, tactics are needed

Dear birders and hawk-watchers (and there is a big difference): I have been trained - in the field - (unofficially) by 5 professional hawk-watchers. All of these professional birders also have other professional disciplines. Yet, I have gained not one shred of my skills, insights, and tactics leading toward finding and observing Northern Goshawks from any individual or organization. If you have an intelligent question, I will try and give you an answer. Let me explain - I have never seen a Goshawk nest. I have never seen a Goshawk take prey. I have seen Goshawks carrying prey. In New Jersey, I saw a mature, female Goshawk at elevation of about 200 feet, flapping as she carried a large possum.

I am no mystery man

I am not particularly interested in perched raptors - to me a perched raptor is a dead raptor - as is a stuffed animal. Please do not ask me why I have a passion for wild, Northern Goshawks. And don't ask me what field marks I use to identify Goshawks. Do you think I am more knowledgeable than David Sibley or William Clark, when it comes to field marks? Do you think I side-step the concrete information contained in field guides, relating toward raptor field marks? Of course not! But - as an aside - other (new) field marks are being introduced. No matter - field marks are not the bird (just a part of the bird).

Goshawk migration

It has been written that Goshawks do not do a complete migration. Do some Goshawks migrate and those same Goshawks at other times, do not migrate? Do Goshawks do a stepping-stone migration? Do Goshawks do an east-west migration? Why do all the Goshawks entering Texas have to go completely through Texas in order to get into Mexico? ANSWER- they don't! Some of those Goshawks do a "drop-off", and winter in Livingston, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, and Rockport. The same concept applies to the Goshawks of Southern Coastal California. They don't all have to get into Mexico!

What happened to the logic

From my writings: Do you mean to say that over 370 species of birds have been seen at Tijuana Slough, including Red-tailed, Red-Shouldered, Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks, and the is no niche for a Northern Goshawk? What happened to the logic? Did the logic dissipate into the sky? If you were looking into the sky for the logic, you would have found the Goshawk!