Eurasian Goshawk

Eurasian Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) is a powerful medium-large woodland raptor with broad short wings, a long barred tail and a bold pale eyebrow. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It hunts birds and mammals in forests and mixed landscapes, accelerating rapidly through cover or striking from a perch; colder-region birds may move south during winter. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).