Alternative names: New Caledonia Goshawk; New Caledonia Sparrowhawk
- Accipiter haplochrous
Identification
32–40 cm (12 ½-15¾ in)
Adult
- Boldly pied
- Slate gray upperparts and head.
- Slightly paler on throat and upper breast
- White lower breast to vent
- White underwing with black tip
- Yellow legs and cere
- Orange-red eye.
Juvenile
- Dark brown upperparts with fine rufous barring
- Paler collar
- Creamy underparts with blackish brown streaks on throat and upper breast
- Spots and barrs on lower underparts
- Yellow eye
Distribution
Endemic to Grande Terre, New Caledonia.
Taxonomy
Forms a superspecies with Fiji Goshawk, Pied Goshawk, and Black-mantled Goshawk.
Subspecies
This is a monotypic species[1].
Habitat
Widely found in humid forest; occurs at lower densities in degraded forest and savanna.
Behaviour
Usually extremely shy and wary.
Diet
Includes lizards, geckos, insects (grasshoppers, beetles), rats, and birds, including chickens and parrots.
Breeding
Poorly known. Clutch of 3 dull white eggs "blotched with indistinct, pale dry blood-coloured markings" has been reported. One nest was made of sticks and twigs high on a horizontal Banyon limb.
Vocalisation
Series of fast, high-pitched notes similar to Brown Goshawk.
Movements
Non-migratory, but juveniles disperse from breeding areas.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2019. The eBird/Clements Checklist of Birds of the World: v2019. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- BirdLife International 2016. Accipiter haplochrous. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22695541A93514419. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22695541A93514419.en. Downloaded on 06 December 2019.
- Debus, S., Kirwan, G.M. & Christie, D.A. (2019). White-bellied Goshawk (Accipiter haplochrous). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from https://www.hbw.com/node/53057 on 6 December 2019).
- Dutson, G. (2011) Birds of Melanesia, Christopher Helm, London.
- Global Raptor Information Network. 2019. Species account: New Caledonia Goshawk Accipiter haplochrous. Downloaded from http://www.globalraptors.org on 5 Dec. 2019
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) White-bellied Goshawk. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 5 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-bellied_Goshawk
