English: :Started observation at 16:30. Two goshawk chicks in nest in a spruce. Non fledged, white feathers. At 17:17, the female flew past the nest and perched on another spruce at 95 metres distance, where there is a nest from a previous year. The female made a series of wailing/begging calls. Shortly after, the male landed on the nest, but I could not see if a food delivery was made. The female continued uttering begging/wailing calls (XC418040, XC418044) until she flew off at 17:58, passing by the nest again (XC418043).

The call pattern corresponds to previous observations (Penteriani, 2001). During the fledging period, females utter the begging call when the male is in the nest area. Food delivery is made by males.

Exact location obscured to protect the nest. Recorded with a directional microphone at 60 metres distance. No filter. Normalized at -0.3 dB. Lots of urban noises and people around.

60 metres is a short distance for a goshawk, however, these are urban animals and they showed no sign whatsoever of being disturbed by my presence. Goshawks are common in Berlin and urban goshawks are known to have a relatively short comfort distance compared to their rural counterparts (Artmann et al., 2015).

References

L. Artmann, N. Kenntner, C. Neumann, and S. Schlegl. Der Habicht : vom Waldjäger zum Stadtbewohner. Oertel + Spörer, Reutlingen, 2015. ISBN 978-3886278992.

V. Penteriani. The annual and diel cycles of goshawk vocalizations at nest sites. Journal of Raptor Research, 35(1):24–30, 2001.

bird-seen:yes

playback-used:no

Common name: Northern Goshawk

Type: begging call, female

Genus: Accipiter

Species: gentilis

Location: Berlin

Country: Germany

Elevation: 40 m