Slaty-mantled Goshawk Tachyspiza luteoschistacea Scientific name definitions

28–38 cm (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), female larger than male; male 205–222 g; wingspan 55–65 cm (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Medium-sized Tachyspiza with short, rounded wings, short tail, large bill and long narrow legs (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); coloration of underparts ranges from whitish to pale cinnamon or buff, with slate-gray upperparts (darkest on crown and paler on mantle) (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Female is browner above, becoming blacker on crown and nape, and buff below with more obvious brown-barred breast (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Bare parts: irides orange-yellow (pale in juvenile), cere orange-yellow to red-orange (orange-yellow in juvenile), and legs yellow-orange to orange-red (dull orange-yellow in juvenile) (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Distinguished from sympatric New Britain Sparrowhawk (Tachyspiza brachyura) by orange-red (rather than yellow) facial skin and legs, also by shorter middle toe, and lack of rufous collar (often indistinct in New Britain Sparrowhawk) (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); Meyer's Goshawk (Astur meyerianus) is much larger, while New Britain Goshawk (Tachyspiza princeps) probably does not occur much below 750 m and therefore is probably largely elevationally parapatric with present species (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Other juvenile Tachyspiza in the Bismarcks are less heavily barred, and Black Honey-buzzard (Henicopernis infuscatus) is much larger (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Juvenile has strongly black-barred rufous upperparts including tail (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), coarsely barred pale cream underparts except throat, which has narrow median stripe (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ), recalling juvenile of larger Moluccan Goshawk (Tachyspiza henicogramma).

The Slaty-mantled Goshawk was long placed in the genus Accipiter, which at the time was the largest genus in Accipitridae (2 Dickinson, E. C., and J. V. Remsen Jr., Editors (2013). The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. Fourth edition. Volume 1. Aves Press, Eastbourne, UK. Close , 3 del Hoyo, J., and N. J. Collar (2014). HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close , 4 Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood (2023). The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2023. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. Close , 5 Gill, F., D. Donsker, and P. Rasmussen (Editors) (2024). IOC World Bird List (v14.1). Close ). Molecular phylogenetic studies, however, have shown that a broad concept Accipiter may not represent a monophyletic group (e.g., 6 Griffiths, C. S., G. F. Barrowclough, J. G. Groth, and L. A. Mertz (2007). Phylogeny, diversity, and classification of the Accipitridae based on DNA sequences of the RAG-1 exon. Journal of Avian Biology 38(5):587–602. Close , 7 Oatley, G., R. E. Simmons, and J. Fuchs (2015). A molecular phylogeny of the harriers (Circus, Accipitridae) indicate the role of long distance dispersal and migration in diversification. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 85:150–160. Close , 8 Mindell, D. P., J. Fuchs, and J. A. Johnson (2018). Phylogeny, taxonomy, and geographic diversity of diurnal raptors: Falconiformes, Accipitriformes, and Cathartiformes. In Birds of Prey (J. Sarasola, J. Grande and J. Negro, Editors), Springer, Cham, Switzerland. pp. 3–32. Close ). Morphological convergence across Accipitridae, and even across Accipitriformes, has led to confusion over relationships before, and the genus Accipiter appears to be yet another case where convergence has led to incorrect classification and taxonomy. While we have long suspected that Accipter is not monophyletic, no action had been taken by taxonomic authorities due to poor taxonomic sampling and concern that additionally sampled taxa would affect the relationships recovered. Catanach et al. (9 Catanach, T. A., M. R. Halley, and S. Pirro (2024). Enigmas no longer: using ultraconserved elements to place several unusual hawk taxa and address the non-monophyly of the genus Accipiter (Accipitriformes: Accipitridae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 2024:blae028 Close ) overcame these concerns by broadly sampling the group, using ultraconserved element (UCE) loci to resolve the relationships among the genus Accipiter and its allies. In the study, Catanach et al. (9 Catanach, T. A., M. R. Halley, and S. Pirro (2024). Enigmas no longer: using ultraconserved elements to place several unusual hawk taxa and address the non-monophyly of the genus Accipiter (Accipitriformes: Accipitridae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 2024:blae028 Close ) found that the harriers (Circus), as well as several other genera (e.g., Erythrotriorchis, Megatriorchis, Melierax), were embedded within the traditional genus Accipiter, rending it polyphyletic. Further, many of the clades identified were not each other's closest relative, and instead were successively sister; these results required extensive taxonomic changes. The Slaty-mantled Goshawk was found to form a well-supported clade with numerous African, Asian, and Australasian taxa, and together these species were sister to a small clade of former Accipter raptors now classified as the genus Aerospiza. Based on these results, the Slaty-mantled Goshawk and its close relatives have been transferred to the genus Tachyspiza (10 Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, M. Smith, and C. L. Wood (2024). The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2024. Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. Close ), following the recommendation of Catanach et al. (9 Catanach, T. A., M. R. Halley, and S. Pirro (2024). Enigmas no longer: using ultraconserved elements to place several unusual hawk taxa and address the non-monophyly of the genus Accipiter (Accipitriformes: Accipitridae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 2024:blae028 Close ).

Umboi and New Britain, in S Bismarck Archipelago.

Forest, forest edge and partly cleared areas of lowlands and hills; from sea-level (more usually from 200 m (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) ) to at least 700 m, but possibly much higher (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). As summarized by BirdLife, this species is greatly outnumbered by Gray Goshawk (Tachyspiza novaehollandiae) in all degraded and artificial habitats, but does occur in open forest and cocoa plantations.

Unknown; no records outside normal range, but juveniles probably wander to some extent (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

Lizard 15 cm long in stomach of one specimen (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ); one seen on ground. Morphology suggests that it preys on reptiles and insects. No further information.

Immature in New Britain gave high-pitched "kee...kee..." (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). An excited pinched "keek-keek" given in couplets (not as continuous series of notes) described from New Ireland, thus not certainly from this species.

No information available. Incidental observations suggest possible breeding on New Ireland around Apr, but species not confirmed as present on that island (1 Ferguson-Lees, J., and D. A. Christie (2001). Raptors of the World. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ).

VULNERABLE. CITES II. Poorly known; rare. Population believed to be small and declining. Confined to New Britain and Umboi; unconfirmed reports from New Ireland probably refer to New Britain Sparrowhawk (Tachyspiza brachyura) (11 Debus, S. (1992). A comment on the Slaty-backed Goshawk Accipiter luteoschistaceus. Muruk. 5(2): 61. Close , 12 Dutson, G. (2011). Birds of Melanesia: The Bismarcks, Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). Known from just eleven or so specimens and a small number of recent records; thought likely to have been overlooked, as appears unobtrusive and can be confused with Brown Goshawk (Tachyspiza fasciata) (12 Dutson, G. (2011). Birds of Melanesia: The Bismarcks, Solomons, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ). No recent information on status on Umboi. On basis of confirmed records, descriptions of abundance and range size (36,400 km²), BirdLife estimates global population as containing 2500–9999 mature individuals, equivalent to 3750–14,999 (or c. 3500–15,000) individuals in total, which is consistent with recorded estimates for congeners of similar body size. Principal threat, evident throughout range, is extensive logging of lowland and hill forests; rate of forest loss within species' range on New Britain (which alone accounts for c. 50% of Papua New Guinea's timber exports) calculated as 19·1% over three generations (13 Buchanan, G.M., Butchart, S.H.M., Dutson, G.C.L., Pilgrim, J.D., Steininger, M.K., Bishop, K.D. and Mayaux, P. (2008). Using remote sensing to inform conservation status assessment: estimates of recent deforestation rates on New Britain and the impacts upon endemic birds. Biological Conservation. 141(1): 56–66. Close ); in recent decades, clearing of lowland forest for oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) plantations has been intense. Mining could soon become a major threat, as two exploration licences (covering 1696 km²) were granted in C & E New Britain in 2012, and all forests in Bismarck Archipelago jeopardized by mining interests; unlike logging and the planting of oil palms, which generally restricted to lowland areas, mining operations, though unlikely to affect large areas of forest in short term, can have adverse impact in montane areas and could threaten important upland forest refugia in the future. Proposed conservation measures include, among others, surveys to investigate the species’ status in logged forest, its altitudinal range, and its abundance at different elevations; employing of local hunters to find nests, and intensive observation of these; mapping of remaining forest, logging concessions, oil palm plantations and areas of proposed expansion; and charting of existing and proposed mining operations. Most importantly, there is an urgent need for generating a viable and effective conservation program within the region.