ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE

PROTECTION STATUS: Not listed

PETITIONED: 1991; 2004

RANGE: Mature forest types west of the Continental Divide, from Canada and Alaska into southern Mexico; at lower densities in southeastern Canada and the northeastern United States; ones subspecies (Queen Charlotte) found in insular Alaska and British Columbia, and possibly the Olympic Peninsula

THREATS: Logging, road construction, and in some areas development

POPULATION TREND: Goshawk numbers are closely tied to the extent of mature and old-growth forests. The historic and current population size is not known, but has certainly been reduced by logging. The bird is now very rare in coastal forests from southern California to Washington. Its numbers appear to be slowly increasing in the eastern United States, as mature forest cover increases. The highest densities are found on Arizona's Kaibab Plateau, which supports the best remaining stands of mature ponderosa pine forest in North America.

Photo courtesy USFWS