Nest Site Selection by Northern Goshawks in Northern New Jersey and Southeastern New York

Speiser, Robert; Bosakowski, Thomas

doi:10.2307/1368492

Cited by 49 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 11 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Goshawks inhabiting the northern latitudes make southward irruptions (movements) on 10-year cycles when prey (specifically, grouse and snowshoe hare [Lepus americanus]) populations crash. Hayward and Escano 1989;Patla 1997;Reynolds and others 1992;Speiser and Bosakowski 1987;Younk and Bechard 1994). As a forest-dwelling predator of small mammals and birds, goshawks build nests in well-defined forest structures that are surrounded by forests, providing protection and foraging opportunities for young goshawks (post-fledging family areas) (Reynolds andothers 1982, 1984).…”

Section: General Taxonomy and Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nest areas usually contain relatively high tree canopy cover and a high density of large trees (Bartelt 1977;Crocker-Bedford and Chaney 1988;Daw and others 1998;Hall 1984;Hayward and Escano 1989;Kennedy 1988Kennedy , 2003McGowan 1975;Moore and Henny 1983;Reynolds 1982;Reynolds and others 1982;Saunders 1982;Speiser and Bosakowski 1987). Although goshawks are considered habitat generalists at large spatial scales and use a wide variety of forest types, they tend to nest in a relatively narrow range of forest structural conditions (Erickson 1987;Hargis and others 1994;Palmer 1988;Reynolds and others 1982;Saunders 1982;Squires and Reynolds 1997;Squires and Ruggiero 1996).…”

Section: Nest Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nest height is a reflection of tree height but nests are typically located 30 to 40 ft (9 to 12 m) above ground level. Goshawks build nests on one or two branches near the tree bole (occasionally on a limb 3.2 to 6.6 ft [1 to 2 m] from the bole) or in forks of the main stem (Bull and Hohmann 1994; Moore and Henny 1983; Reynolds and others 1982;Speiser and Bosakowski 1987). They are normally bulky structures of twigs and branches reaching up to 3 ft (90 cm) in height with outside diameters ranging from 1.5 to 4.0 ft (45 to 122 cm) and inside diameters of 0.75 to 1.75 ft (23 to 53 cm).…”

Section: Nest Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nests are usually located within 0.25 miles (0.4 km) of each other; however they can be as close as 150 ft (46 m) or distributed over larger areas (Reynolds and Joy 1998;Reynolds andothers 1994, 2005;Reynolds and Wight 1978;Speiser and Bosakowski 1987;Woodbridge and Detrich 1994). As a group, alternate nests in a territory are thought to be surrounded by a post-fledgling family area, an area preferentially used by the adult female for foraging during the late nesting period and by fledged young during the 1 to 2 months they are dependent on the adults for food (Reynolds and others 1992;Wiens and others 2006).…”

Section: Nest Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Goshawk nest areas have a relatively high tree canopy cover and a relatively high density of large trees (Bartelt 1974;Crocker-Bedford and Chaney 1988;Hall 1984;Hayward and Escano 1989;Kennedy 1988;McGowan 1975;Moore and Henny 1983;Reynolds and others 1982;Saunders 1982;Speiser and Bosakowski 1987).…”

Section: Nest Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Northern goshawk and its prey in the Black Hills: Habitat assessment

Graham¹,

Volo²,

Reynolds³

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The northern goshawk is classified as a Sensitive Species in all USDA Forest Service regions, including on the Black Hills National Forest in western South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming. An assessment was conducted of the quality of northern goshawk nesting and foraging habitat, along with the habitat quality of 22 of the goshawk's prey species. A Delphi (expert panel) evaluation of goshawk and prey habitat in 3,414 watersheds averaging 449 acres (182 ha) in size was completed by wildlife biologists from the Black Hills National Forest. The quality of goshawk nesting and foraging habitat and of prey group habitats was reported individually, then combined for each watershed. The optimum goshawk and prey habitat, totaling 67 watersheds or 34,427 acres (13,932 ha), was distributed throughout the nearly 1.5 million-acre (about 607,000-ha) Black Hills National Forest. Panel members found that the Bear Lodge Mountains, located in northeastern Wyoming, proportionally had the most optimum, high-, and medium-rated habitat. Wildfire, bark beetles, urban encroachment, and timber harvest can negatively affect northern goshawks and their prey's habitat. However, increasing the amount and presence of quaking aspen forests within the Black Hills will most likely improve the habitat of the goshawk by improving the habitat for many of its prey. Using previously articulated conditions as a template in the Forest Vegetation Simulator, we designed an example 100-year silvicultural system to create and maintain forest conditions for the northern goshawk and its prey on the Black Hills Experimental Forest.Keywords: northern goshawk, Accipiter gentilis atricapillus, silviculture, forest structure, bark beetles, ponderosa pine, forest management. AuthorsRussell T. Graham is a research forester (silviculturist) with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, in Moscow, Idaho. His research activities include the role that coarse woody debris plays in forests, large-scale ecosystem assessment and planning, describing northern goshawk habitat, and developing forest management strategies (silvicultural systems) for a wide array of management objectives. Shelley Bayard deVolo is an environmental coordination specialist for the Larimer County Engineering Department in Fort Collins, Colorado. She studied wildlife for several decades in California, Arizona, Colorado, and South Dakota. During her 15-year tenure with the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Fort Collins, Colorado, she assisted in studying demographic and habitat relationships for northern goshawks on the Kaibab Plateau, Arizona. She also determined genetic diversity for Kaibab goshawks and investigated genetic relationships for goshawk populations across North America.Richard T. Reynolds is a research wildlife biologist with the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Fort Collins, Colorado. He has investigated the relationship between the composition and structure of habitats as well as the demographic performance of apex avian predat...

show abstract

Section: General Taxonomy and Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Nest Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Nest Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Nest Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Nest Areasmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Northern goshawk and its prey in the Black Hills: Habitat assessment

Graham¹,

Volo²,

Reynolds³

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Large‐scale forest composition influences northern goshawk nesting in Wisconsin

et al. 2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis atricapillus) is a woodland raptor that uses a variety of forest types for nesting across its breeding range, but strongly depends on older forests with large trees and open understories. Goshawks may select nesting locations by maximizing the convergence of nesting and foraging habitats. Insights into goshawk responses to heterogeneous landscapes can be gained by examining the location of active nest sites through time and at multiple spatial scales. We examined the landscape-scale forest conditions that influenced the probability of active goshawk nests in the United States Forest Service, Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest (CNNF) in northern Wisconsin. We used goshawk nest survey and monitoring data from 1997 to 2006 to determine the probability of an active nest site over time in relation to forest composition and road density at 3 scales (200-m, 500-m, and 1,000-m radii). Goshawk nests were located primarily in upland hardwood (64%), conifer (23%), and older aspen-birch (!26 yrs old; 11%) habitat cover types. We used Bayesian temporal autoregressive models of nest locations across multiple spatial scales to analyze these data. The probability of active goshawk nest occurrence increased with increasing conifer cover (1,000 m) and decreased with increasing cover of older aspen-birch and density of primary roads (500 m). In addition, lesser proportions of older aspen-birch at intermediate scales around goshawk nests had a stronger effect on the probability of a nest being active than conifer and primary roads. Thus, the ratio of conifer cover (within 1,000 m) to older aspen-birch cover (within 500 m) in landscapes surrounding nest sites was the key driver in predicting the probability of an active nest site. This finding can be used by forest managers to help sustain the active status of a goshawk nesting area through time (i.e., annually), and foster goshawk nesting activity in areas where active nesting is not currently occurring. ß Published 2013. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

show abstract