Tachyspiza princeps
The New Britain Goshawk (*Tachyspiza princeps*), an enigmatic raptor endemic to the island of New Britain, Papua New Guinea, is a striking and powerful bird of prey. Measuring approximately 38-45 cm in length with a wingspan of 70-85 cm, it exhibits a robust build typical of goshawks. Adults are characterized by their dark slate-grey upperparts, contrasting sharply with clean white underparts, sometimes displaying faint barring, and distinctive bright yellow-orange eyes that pierce through th...
Primarily found in undisturbed lowland primary and mature secondary rainforests, the New Britain Goshawk typically inhabits elevations below 1000 meters, though it occasionally ventures into degraded forests.
The New Britain Goshawk preys primarily on small to medium-sized forest birds, including pigeons and passerines, supplemented by lizards and large insects, captured through ambush hunting.
The New Britain Goshawk is a solitary and diurnal raptor, spending much of its day perched secretively within the dense forest canopy, observing its surroundings. It employs a classic "sit-and-wait" foraging strategy, ambushing unsuspecting prey from a hidden perch with a sudden, powerful burst o...
The New Britain Goshawk is strictly endemic to New Britain Island, the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago of Papua New Guinea. Its distribution is fragmented and localized, primarily confined to the remaining tracts of primary and mature secondary lowland rainforest across the island. Whi...
Endangered
- The New Britain Goshawk is so elusive that it was known from only a handful of specimens and anecdotal sightings for many decades, earning it the moniker "ghost of the forest. - Its reclassification from *Accipiter princeps* to *Tachyspiza princeps* reflects recent phylogenetic insights placing...