A pair of large accipiters have been hanging around Vermont Park in Toronto (Palmerston, 2 blocks south of Dupont, one block west of Bathurst. At 8 this morning, when the park was deserted, they were flying around, calling, and investigating and adding sticks to an old squirrel nest in a mid-size Norway maple. I observed them mating once. If I didn't know better(?) I'd say they were goshawks--the calls sound more like Coopers', but they are bigger than crows and have extremely prominent and fluffy white under tail coverts. In the female especially the under tail coverts are so bushy they are visible from behind projecting out on either side of her tail when she is flying. The female looked to be an adult--dark back and light streaking on a light breast. The male was sub-adult--brown back with some small white checks, and dark brown streaking on the light breast, with 3 visible bars across the long tail. I'd be happy to have someone with more experience distinguishing accipiters in the field confirm this. I observed a goshawk in this park almost a month ago (Feb. 13). This is a small downtown park with a playground, not at all goshawk habitat, but there are plenty of pigeons and squirrels around for them to eat.
