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Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:

With its distinctive plumage, large size, and legendary aggression, the American Goshawk is one of Saskatchewan's most arresting raptors. The reclusive American Goshawk tends to locate its nest in out-of-the-way places. They occur from the treeline in Alaska and Canada, south through the western mountains of the US to western Mexico, east into the northeastern states, and south in the Appalachians to West Virginia and Maryland. Occasional winter incursions may take them well into the southernmost states and eastern Mexico (AOU 1998).

American Goshawks breed chiefly in the more mature forests of northern Saskatchewan. During migration and winter they may be seen in more open habitats.

The American Goshawk is a fairly common permanent resident in the boreal and subarctic regions and the Cypress Hills. In the parklands it is an uncommon and local nester in extensive aspen forests such as are found in the Eagle and Touchwood Hills (Smith 1996). In the 1890s the American Goshawk bred south into the eastern parklands. It then retreated northward to the southern edge of mixed forest for about 100 years, but by the 1990s, an occasional pair had returned to nest (Houston 1998b).

Original text by Stéphane Gérard. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky

Read more about the American Goshawk in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.

LeeAnn M. Latremouille

Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. American Goshawk in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=AGOS&lang=en [14 Nov 2025]