Larger broods in the Northern Goshawk Accipiter gentilis near urban areas in southern Finland

Abstrakti

I examined if the distance from densely-built(urban) areas is reflected in the brood size of the Northern Goshawk near the southern coast of Finland. The data were collected from 70 nesting territories in 1976–2007, including 270 fledged broods. Within an approximate distance of less than 2.5 km from the nearest urban area, the average brood size was significantly higher than that in more rural environments. In the most densely populated urban area, the brood size was significantly higher than in the least urban areas. In general, urban habitats seemed to provide more stable food and nesting conditions as compared to rural ones. This was suggested by the long-term stability of relatively many of the most urban nesting localities, and by the recent apparently increasing tendency of Goshawks in urban areas to re-occupy earlier abandoned territories and even to establish new ones. For the Northern Goshawk, the urban life habits may locally provide superior alternatives for the rural ones. From a conservation point of view, urban and near-urban territories of the Northern Goshawk might be particularly valuable due to the general scarcity of suitable nest-sites in urban environments.