Northern goshawk Facts for Kids
Accipiter gentilis · ak-SIP-ih-ter jen-TY-liss
A forest hawk with a long tail and broad wings.
- 🏃 speed: not yet checked
- ⚖️ 1.4 to 3 lb630 g to 1.4 kg1
- 📏 22 to 24 in55 to 61 cm1 long
- 🎂 11 years11 years1
- 🍽️ meat
- Doing fine (Least Concern)
A northern goshawk is a strong hawk of the forest. It has a long tail. It eats birds, mammals and other small animals.
Northern goshawks live in the mountains and forests of North America and Eurasia. They like forests of both evergreen and leafy trees. They eat mostly birds and mammals of medium size, and also reptiles and insects.
The northern goshawk is a hawk of big forests, found in North America and across Eurasia. It nests in mature forest, and in winter some move down to lower, warmer places. It eats mostly birds and mammals, and also reptiles and insects, and what it eats changes with the place it lives. A female is a little bigger than a male.
How big is a northern goshawk?
Northern goshawk in numbers
| Length | 22 to 24 in55 to 61 cm1average; males and females |
|---|---|
| Height at the shoulder | no checked number yet |
| Weight | 1.4 to 3 lb630 g to 1.4 kg1males and females |
| Top speed | no checked number yet |
| How long it lives | 11 years11 years1average; in the wild |
| What it eats | birds, mammals, reptiles and insects |
| Where it lives | mountain and lowland forests across North America and Eurasia |
| What kind | Birds |
| Is it in danger? | Doing fine (Least Concern)2 |
A number we couldn’t find on a page we trust says so, instead of guessing.
Wow!
- A northern goshawk lives in forests in North America and Eurasia.
- Some move to warmer places in winter.
- Females are a little bigger than males.
Compare the northern goshawk
Friends and neighbours
Red-tailed hawk
Great horned owl
Red foxThree questions
Books about the northern goshawk, free at the library
Ask a grown-up to tap the button: it shows where to borrow a book about the northern goshawk for free.
For teachers
Use this animal in class: its facts are on this page, and the cards print from it.
Where these numbers come from
- University of Michigan Museum of Zoology, Animal Diversity Web: Accipiter gentilis (northern goshawk), checked 10 November 2026.
- Wikidata, from the IUCN Red List, checked 10 November 2026.
- Wikidata, Northern goshawk (Q25353), checked 30 October 2026.