English and Scientific names:	Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentillis)
Number of individuals:	One adult
Locality: LOUISIANA:	410 Kay Lane, Shreveport, Caddo Parish
Specific Locality:	Flying over Youree Drive (La.hwy 1) to a tree in my office compound. Then in a Live Oak tree sandwiched between two buildings in the office compound located at the corner of Kay Lane and Hwy. 1.
Date(s) when observed:	February 5, 2007
Time(s) of day when observed:	3:40-3:45PM
Reporting observer and address:	Paul Dickson Shreveport, LA
Other observers accompanying reporter who also identified the bird(s):	none
Other observers who independently identified the bird(s)	none
Light conditions (position of bird in relation to shade and to direction and amount of light):	Clear bright sun with the bird highlighted in flight. I was on an elevated roadway and the bird was flying first in front of me and then over an open area to my left at nearly eye level so that I was then viewing the bird dorsally. Minutes later, shaded  in the tree canopy with the sun behind me and shining through the limbs somewhat onto the bird. I kept the bird to the north of me and circled from W to S to E of the bird so to keep the sun in my favor. This way I viewed the bird's back, right side, and finnally its undersides were viewed frontally from very close range.
Optical equipment:	I didn't use them! I was driving when I saw it in flight. When I found it in the tree, I was so close there was no need.
Distance to bird(s):	I went back to the spot before writing this measured the distance to the limb it was on as 15 feet from my eyes.
Duration of observation:	first in the air for 30 seconds or so then in the tree for 2 minutes.
Habitat:	Edge of town. Mixed open fields, suburban, commercial, ditch nearby with scattereed trees. Immediately the south there are open fields, pecan orchards, second growth bottomland forest. The Live Oak that it was in is 20 years old with a very dense 36 foot canopy. Another Live Oak stands next two it so that the total canopy is 36x50. These trees sit between two office buildings forming a "canyon bottom".  The bird flew in the direction of Red River and its riparian forest on departure.
Behavior of bird:	I saw it fly across the road I was driving on. My initial assumption was that it was a Cooper's hawk but its wing beats were too slow and delirberate, it glided swiftly between stroks for longer periods than Cooper's and other plumage characteristics such as longer wings and a shorter tail than Cooper's caused me concern. The flight style was powerful and reminded me of a big female Peregrine or Gyr by the way it swung in a fast glide but its wings were rounded and long and its tail square, clearly an Accipiter. It beat vigously but more slowly than is usual for Cooper's then glided in a turning arc to enter the center of the canopy of a dense live oak. The flight pattern was that of a larger bird than a Coopers.   I have experience with separating African Accipiters and my impression when seeing it in flight was that this was a big, powerful Accipter and not as quick as a Cooper's should be. I drove straight to the tree and got out. It took a minute to find it. When I did it was unusually tame. It allowed me to semi circle it at a distance of 15'. It was being sort of harrassed by a myrtle warbler though the warbler was on the outside of the canopy and the Goshawk was in the center. After about a 2 minute observation, the Goshawk flew out of the tree, 6 feet over my head and departed in the direction of a vacant lot with trees and some condos. I could not relocate it. Again, it was very tame for an Accipiter. There were no materials on the bird to indicate a falconry escapee. I saw the legs clearly.
Description:	Crown black or nearly so bordered by distinct and broad light gray or whitish supercillium extending high on the side of the head such that the dark crown was limited to the very top of the head.  From the back the cap blended with the uniformly dark blue-gray dorsal.Behind the eye was a black eyeline which broadened posteriorly from the eye. The eyeline contrasted with gray auriculars. The head markings contrasted and were distinct as the blackish crown and eyeline, the whitish supercillium between layed out on an otherwise medium gray head. Eye: dull red or reddish-amber. At first it appeared to be brown or dark amber but on one view I could see red tint. Bill: gray blending to dark at tip, cere yellow. Back: Uniform blueish gray of a medium dark shade. Tail: Square, narrow and slightly more than half the length of the body. Bands on tail probably 4 though I did not count them. Bands difficult to discern from the back. I did not see bands in flight when viewing the bird dorsally and flying away from me. I did see them faintly when viewing at 15' from the bird's back.  The underside tail bands were distinct when view frontally: Bands broad at intiation on outer retrices, curling and narrowing inward to form a wavy or bulbous appearance narrowing towards the center of the tail.  The first band inward from the tip was broadest, bands became narrower and less distinct towards base of the tail. I think that there were 4 dark bands though I did not count them. Undertail bands were dark blue-gray on medium gray. Underparts: Very light gray or whitish with narrow penciling in medium gray forming fine bars across breast through upper belly. Throat was light gray. I believe that the vent area was white but I cannot recall that clearly. Overall appearance of underparts was finely barred gray on dull white. Wings: Long & broad for an Accipter but much narrower than Buteo. Longer than in a Falcon and evenly rounded at the primaries. Faintly barred primaries, nothing to note on secondaries. No distict wing markings in flight, just steel gray like the back. Legs and Feet: yellow Size: No other bird to compare to however I did go back to the tree and measure limbs near where it was perched. It was about 22 inches long perched based on the limbs it sat between.  It appeared as large and powerful and not as thin and swift as Coopers. It appeared larger than other similiar hawks such as Peregrine, Coopers, Mississippi Kite or Harrier. In the tree it appeared to be 1.5-2 times longer than a crow. All of this is impression as I did not have any other bird to compare to. Experience lends mental comparisons however and my impression was that it was too big for any other accipter with a flight that was rapid but smooth. The impression of size and proportion caused me to race to the tree though I really didn't seriously expect it to really be a Goshawk due to the unlikehood of occurance.
Voice:	Not heard
Similar species:	from Cooper's Hawk: gray adult but with whitish and gray barred underparts. Contrasting head pattern. From Mississippi Kite, head pattern, tail shape, size, flight style From Peregrine and Gyrfalcon by more rounded wings, longer tail and head pattern. From any Buteo by longer, narrower wings, swifter flight.
Photographs or tape recordings obtained?	None. Did not get my camera from the car. Again, I was drawn to the tree by the feeling that something was wrong with this Accipiter but just wasn't prepared for Goshawk. It took me by surprise.
Previous experience with this species:	Northern Goshawk seen on a few occasions in Colorado, Montana, Canada. I have spent lots of hours separating the African Accipiters which is a challenging task. I am well practiced at discriminating between Accipiters. I have seen Gyrfalcon many times as well as other falcons around the world. Same with Kites.
Identification aids:	at time of observation: none needed after observation: Afterwards, I flipped through a Sibley that I keep in my office just because I was in shock at what I a saw in a tree at my office! That is where I looked up the Latin name but otherwise did not use any reference for this report.
This description is written from:	Written pretty much just after the sighting and chasing after the bird unsuccessfully. First I posted to Labird and the Shreveport listserv then started on this report. It took over an hour to write.
Are you positive of your identification? If not, explain:	Yes
Reporter:	Paul Dickson
Date and time:	February 5, 2007 5:30 PM