Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia, 63(2) 2020

Issue:

VOL 63(2) 2020

DOI:

10.3409/azc.63.04

Keywords:

Accipiter gentilis, Accipitridae, Columba, tandem hunting, prey

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A case of cooperative hunting by a pair of northern goshawks

• Bartłomiej KUSAL
• Łukasz KAJTOCH

Abstract:

Cooperative hunting is a rare strategy in raptors, although it has been widely described in Falconidae and in some species of Accipitridae. Records about synchronous hunting in the member of the genus Accipiter are occasional. Here we describe a case of the cooperative hunting of two northern
goshawks, A. gentilis, of a pigeon, Columba sp., observed in southern Poland in 2020. This exemplary behavior could be either exceptional, or cooperative hunting is an overlooked phenomenon in goshawk biology.