It’s Here!

Loess Hills Audubon is again partnering with Council Oak Coffee Supply for a certified bird-friendly limited edition coffee roast. Pre-order forms will be available at the October 3rd general meeting.

For a $20 donation to Loess Hills Audubon, you will receive a12-ounce bag of either whole bean or ground Tanager Drip: A Migratory Trip limited edition coffee.

This limited edition roast is only available through Loess Hills Audubon. Help support local and migratory birds and their habitats, your chapter and our activities with this fund-raising partnership with Council Oak Coffee Supply.

BIRD OF THE MONTH - American Goshawk

The American Goshawk is the bigger, fiercer, wilder relative of the Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks that prowl suburbs and backyards. It’s an accipiter—a type of hawk with short, broad wings and a long rudderlike tail that give it superb aerial agility.

They are secretive birds that typically live in large tracts of forest, so they are hard to find. These birds are mostly gray as adults, with bold white “eyebrow” stripes over piercing orange to red eyes. Immatures are brown and streaky, with narrow dark bands in the tail and have an indistinct pale eyebrow stripe and yellow eyes.

American Goshawks flash through forests chasing bird and mammal prey, pouncing silently or crashing feet first through brush to grab quarry in crushingly strong talons. Adult goshawks give a rapid-fire ki-ki-ki-ki alarm call repeated 10–20 times in response to threats or when chasing prey. They sometimes precede the call with a drawn-out kreey-a.

Resident to short-distance migrants, in some regions younger birds disperse from northern breeding grounds while older birds remain behind. There are recent Siouxland sightings at Broken Kettle Grasslands.

In 2023, the American Ornithological Society split Northern Goshawk, which occurred in North America and Eurasia, into two species: American Goshawk and Eurasian Goshawk.