‘A hugely significant sighting’: red goshawk photographed for first time in central Australia
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Bird snapped by Newhaven wildlife sanctuary ecologist is likely a juvenile on risky 1,500km journey away from parents, expert says. Recent wet weather in the arid plains of central Australia prompted the wildlife ecologist and bird enthusiast Dr Tim Henderson to stop last week at a small lake to see if any waterbirds had shown up.
![[Australia’s rarest bird of prey was spotted at Newhaven wildlife sanctuary, on Ngalia Warlpiri and Luritja Country west of Alice Springs]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/ea3b61be423ad40333dd6ec007ed7678c5747a78/0_0_1200_675/master/1200.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
While there, above his head came a sight many birdwatchers wait a lifetime for: the red goshawk, Australia’s rarest bird of prey. It had a throat full of food, and was in a location it had never been photographed and had not been recorded at for about 30 years.
![[The red goshawk takes flight from its perch at Newhaven wildlife sanctuary]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/e341fdf067f67d0eeb65c21e696a4df3666b9be5/0_0_1642_1094/master/1642.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Henderson had to pinch himself. “It looked like something I didn’t recognise,” said Henderson, who leads a team of ecologists at the Australian Wildlife Conservancy’s Newhaven wildlife sanctuary, a vast reserve about 300km west of Alice Springs.
“I thought, ‘surely it’s not a red goshawk’. “I snapped a few photographs, but i didn’t want to get my hopes up.”. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email. Dr Rich Seaton, of BirdLife Australia, reviewed Henderson’s pictures and confirmed he had indeed snapped a red goshawk.
“It’s a unique-looking bird of prey, but they can be very tricky to identify in the field,” Seaton said. “It has beautiful, barred plumage; long, broad wings with finger-like feathers; and big feet and talons for hunting other birds.”. The “fearsome” red goshawks hunt birds as big as sulphur-crested cockatoos and kookaburras, he said.
