Northern Goshawk

Accipiter gentilis

Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Presence in the Strait: Resident
Abundance: scarce
Protection in Spain: Special protection (List)
In Spanish: Azor común

Length: 48 cm
Wingspan: 98–117 cm
Weight: 850–1,450 g

Presence in the Strait

Scarce resident in forests (>11 pairs).

Identification

Similar to the female Sparrowhawk, but larger and has longer and broader wings. The male is blue-grey above; the female is larger than the male. Both are whitish below, barred grey. The white supercilium is particularly prominent in females. Juveniles have dark brown upperparts and heavily streaked underparts.

Movements

Sedentary, moving short distances between the end of March and April and between July and November, with peaks in September.

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Photographs from iNaturalist observations with the licence checked file by file. Those marked “Strait” were taken within the area; place and date are those of each observation.

Calendar in the Strait

33 %

Peak in January. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 15 September 1997
Latest record: 7 September 2023

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Spanish Catalogue: Special protection (List)
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: LC · Least concern · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Annex I of the Birds Directive

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Same genus in the Strait

Eurasian Sparrowhawk28–28 cm · Resident

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
GBIF taxon key: 2480589

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Kim, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026

Northern Goshawk

Presence in the Strait

Identification

Movements

Gallery