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National Recovery Plan for the Christmas Island Goshawk Accipiter fasciatus natalis
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National Recovery Plan for the Christmas Island Goshawk Accipiter fasciatus natalis
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The Christmas Island Goshawk is restricted to Christmas Island, a volcanic island in the Indian Ocean (10o0'S; 105o40' E), approximately 1400km northwest of Australia. The island sits on the northernmost edge of the Australasian continental plate, and immediately north the ocean floor drops into the Java Trench and depths of up to 6000m. The nearest land is Java in the Republic of Indonesia, 360km to the north. Christmas Island is truly oceanic and all its native biota has colonised by sea or by air (Gray 1981). The island is 135km2 and 75% is covered with original vegetation (Environment Australia 2002).
Gibson-Hill (1947) reported that Christmas Island Goshawks seemed to prefer areas of ‘slightly thinner growth on the edge of thick jungle or the borders of clearings’. During 1994 and 1995 goshawks were observed in all major habitats on the island (Hill unpubl. data,). Goshawks were regularly seen hunting in regrowth vegetation along roadsides. This may be merely because they were much more visible in this habitat compared to intact forests. Parks Australia North (PAN) data from a systematic survey over all habitat of the island (over 1000 survey points) suggest that more goshawks are located within rainforest (95% of sightings) than in cleared areas. The Christmas Island Goshawk is the least frequently encountered diurnal forest bird and might best be described as ‘widespread and uncommon’.
There are no data on adult or juvenile movements. Adult Christmas Island Goshawks are probably resident on their territories year-round. Grey Goshawks defend a territory around the nest site which appears to be significantly smaller than the home range in which they feed (Burton 1991).
There are no detailed population estimates for Christmas Island Goshawks. New Caledonian Brown Goshawks, a similar-sized closely related bird, occurred at a density of 0.89 - 0.96 adults/km2 in rainforest (Thiollay 1993). There is approximately 101 km2 of primary forest on Christmas Island which suggests that it is unlikely that there are many more than 50 pairs or 100 mature Christmas Island Goshawks on Christmas Island.