Red Goshawk
| Red Goshawk | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Falconiformes (or Accipitriformes, q.v.) |
| Family: | Accipitridae |
| Genus: | Erythrotriorchis |
| Species: | E. radiatus |
| Binomial name | |
| Erythrotriorchis radiatus (Latham, 1802) | |
The Red Goshawk (Erythrotriorchis radiatus) is probably the rarest Australian bird of prey. It is found mainly in the savanna woodlands of northern Australia, particularly near watercourses. It takes a broad range of live prey, mostly birds.
Taxonomy
The Red Goshawk used to be regarded as a very large member of the goshawk subfamily, Accipitridae, but it is now believed that the resemblance to these other birds is convergent. Experts now group the Red Goshawk with the superficially dissimilar Black-breasted Buzzard and Square-tailed Kite as one of the Australasian old endemic raptors. It is believed that the ancestors of these birds, possibly together with a handful of species from South-east Asia and Africa, occupied Gondwana and over the millennia have diverged into their current forms.
Important Bird Areas
Sites identified by BirdLife International as being important for Red Goshawk conservation are Lilyvale in Far North Queensland, Kakadu Savanna and the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory, and Mornington Sanctuary in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.[2]
References
- ↑ BirdLife International (2012). "Erythrotriorchis radiatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.2. International Union for Conservation of Nature. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ↑ "Red-Goshawk". Important Bird Areas. BirdLife International. 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-30.