Very often sitting on post; quite regularly hunting chickens; rarely observed flying overhead (Louette & Herroelen 2007).
This raptor inhabits the dense forest and practices still hunting.
Not yet assessed.
This taxon is Not Recognised as a species by BirdLife International.
An average sized, colourfull Accipiter from Western and Central Africa.
Dark upperparts, white bands across tail. Rufous or barred (subspecies macroscelides) below.
West and Central Africa: from Senegal to easternmost DR Congo, and on the Bioko Island.
Sister species to A. tachiro form (Breman et al. 2013); forms a superspecies with A. castanilius, A. unduliventer and A. tachiro.
Species is DNA barcoded (Breman et al. 2013).
Under any of the phylogenetic species concepts (Louette 2010), some authorities (like Sinclair & Ryan 2003) prefer to split African Goshawk into two species: African Goshawk A. tachiro sensu stricto and ‘Red-chested Goshawk’ A. toussenelii.
According to molecular analyses by Louette’s team JEMU of the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA) at Tervuren in Belgium, it appears that it is still quite acceptable to provisionally accept the forest form A. toussenelii as a species (Breman et al. 2013). Each paraspecies has a foursome morphologically identifiable regional populations consequently treated here as subspecies.
Restricted to primary forest and adjacent secondary forest.
Accipiter toussenelii can be confused with A. tachiro (but A. toussenelii is more colourfull). It can also be confused with A. castanilius (but A. castanilius is smaller, with barring below almost brown).
Age-related plumage variation: the pattern of spotting (in the juvenile) and barring (in the adult) of the breast feathers is variable among all subspecies (from heavily in most subspecies to an almost unspotted immature in toussenelii and canescens and an unbarred adult canescens). Plumage characteristics are functionally related to habitat, age and possibly mimicry (Louette 2000).
Sexual dimorphism in:
- plumage-colour, plumage of males is more colourfull than females. Females may be cryptic. Mimicking the larger Black Sparrowhawk Accipiter melanoleucus.
- size: the females are larger than the males, like all Accipiter species worldwide.
Sedentary
It builds a nest in a tree, 2 eggs, at nest.
35 cm
It hunts for birds, reptiles, small mammals and insects, and is known to kill large prey in comparison to its size, in particular birds.
The red-chested goshawk (Accipiter toussenelii) is a medium-size hawk of West Africa. It is often considered conspecific with the African goshawk.[3]
It may be divided into two subspecies groups: the eastern (A. t. toussenelii and A. t. canescens), found from the Congo Basin west to Gabon and southern Cameroon, and the western (A. t. macroscelides and A. t. lopezi), found on Bioko and from western Cameroon west to Senegal. It inhabits low-altitude[4] forests, especially rainforests and dense second growth, often near rivers and swamps, including mangroves. It can also occur in plantations, parks, and big gardens. Apparently it does not migrate or wander except possibly for dispersal of young.[3]
The range of the species overlaps with the range of the African goshawk in western Uganda and the eastern and southern Democratic Republic of the Congo.[3]
The wingspan is 18.4 to 20.3 cm (7.2 to 8.0 inches) in males and 20.4 to 24.3 cm (8.0 to 9.6 inches) in females. The body length is about 3/5 of the wingspan. There is a pronounced size difference between males weighing 150 to 235 grams and females weighing 170 to 265 grams. The eyes, cere, and legs of adults are yellow to yellow-orange. In the eastern subspecies, adults have dark gray upperparts with lighter heads. The underparts are plain rufous and white. The tail is blackish with two or three big white patches. Juveniles are more or less unmarked blackish above and white below.[3]
In the western subspecies, adults are also dark above, but have a grayish throat and barring mixed with rufous on the underparts. They have three white patches on the tail. Juveniles are blackish-brown above and white with heavy brown spotting below.[3]
The most common call is a "ventriloquial rasping krit or sharper whit" given regularly every 2 or 3 seconds. It is given when the bird is perched, especially at dawn, and in flight, and is used as a contact call between mates, in courtship, and for territorial advertising. The male gives a "quieter tchuck or krit" when bringing food to the nest. Other softer, less harsh calls are heard around the nest, maybe particularly from the female.[3]
The breeding season begins in July or August and ends in February. Unlike the African goshawk, this species is said to perform flight displays only rarely. The nest is placed 6 to 20 meters above the ground in the main fork or on a side branch of a large tree, hidden by leaves or vines. It is built of sticks, 40 to cm across and 15 to 45 cm deep, with a lining of fresh leaves. The female lays 2 or 3 eggs (less often 1 or 4). As in most Accipitridae, the female incubates and cares for the young while the male supplies the food, with the female doing some of the hunting after the young are half-grown. Incubation lasts some 4 or 5 weeks, and the young fledge in 32 to 36 days. Juveniles probably molt directly into adult plumage when a little over one year old.[3]
This species' main foods are frogs and freshwater crabs. It takes large insects more regularly than the African goshawk, and also eats lizards, earthworms, and small mammals and birds. It hunts throughout the day, including dawn and dusk. Among its methods is waiting hidden in the forest canopy, often near an open space such as a trail or a body of water. It also flies quickly from tree to tree looking for prey that it can swoop down on or snatch, and flies beside lines of dense vegetation to surprise prey by flying through.[3]
This species is probably declining because of habitat loss but is fairly adaptable and is probably still common.[3]
The two subspecies groups may be considered separate species, in which case the western one is called Accipiter macroscelides, the West African goshawk. More commonly, though, the present species is lumped with the African goshawk[3] because the groups intergrade and vary widely within themselves and separated populations resemble each other.[3] The red-chested goshawk is treated here as a separate species following the Handbook of the Birds of the World[5] and other authorities.[4][6]
Des Murs and Verreaux named this species after Alphonse Toussenel in the hope of encouraging him to move toward serious studies of natural history.[7]
Media related to Accipiter toussenelii at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Accipiter toussenelii at WikispeciesThe red-chested goshawk (Accipiter toussenelii) is a medium-size hawk of West Africa. It is often considered conspecific with the African goshawk.
