Habicht Upper Austria

The Habicht, known in English as the northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), is a robust mid-sized raptor with short, broad wings, a long tail and a conspicuous white stripe above the eye. Females reach roughly the size of a common buzzard, while the smaller males, called Terzel in German hunters' language, are noticeably more delicate. Compared with the easily confused sparrowhawk (Sperber), the goshawk is markedly stockier, broader in the chest and shows a more rounded tail. It inhabits forests of all kinds, copses and richly structured farmland, and is increasingly found at settlement edges and in larger urban parks, where it takes pigeons and rabbits.

As a skilled ambush and pursuit hunter, the goshawk strikes mainly birds and small mammals weighing between roughly 50 grams and one kilogram. This places it squarely within the classic prey spectrum of small-game habitat, yet the species itself is not huntable. Across the DACH region the goshawk has a year-round closed season. In Germany it is formally listed under the Federal Hunting Law but is strictly protected by the Federal Nature Protection Act and the EU Birds Directive, and any pursuit is a criminal offence.

The goshawk holds a special place in falconry. It is a classic Beizvogel for hunting hare, wild rabbit, pheasant and corvids and was traditionally called le cuisinier, the kitchen master, by falconers because it reliably brought meat to the table. Falconry is recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage and, in the German-speaking countries, requires a separate falconry examination (Falknerprüfung) in addition to the hunter's exam. Taking young goshawks from the wild is permitted only in tightly limited individual cases and only on formal application.