2011 Imprint Goshawk

[robruger1]

10 days old. Nest was checked the day of hatch so no guesstimation on the age which is nice. 292 grams. Good appetite and shows zero fear. Anyone venture to guess the sex? This is my first gos so I have no basis for comparison.

[goshawks00]

Female --wedge head , thick tarsus..

[FredFogg]

Nice! Man I want one soooooo bad! Congrats, have fun.

[robruger1]

Thanks Fred, I'm really excited. Barry, yeah I was kinda leaning that way as well. The chick my buddy pulled from the same nest so far weighs the same but we thought it had a slightly narrower cere and a slightly short hallux to middle toe measurement. Is your guestimation based only on physical features, or is the weight also too high for it to be a male at this stage? I ask because we thought mine might be a female and his a male but the weight is the same or within a few grams.

[hcmcelroy]

Rob,

Best of luck with this hawk it looks like a nice one. I don't know about gos but the aplo has been sexed by weight by The Peregrine Fund. At 15 days the females weigh much more!!! I've sexed Cooper's by weight at 12 days of age up to 18 days and again the weight is dramatically higher in the females.

My guess is that there is a large weight difference in the gos too but I have no idea when that occurs. Of course a feather, blood or egg shell example could be sent in for a lab test. I understand that it is not expensive.

I am going to imprint a gos again this year and I am interested in how you raise your hawk.
Harry.

[goshawks00]

. Is your guestimation based only on physical features, or is the weight also too high for it to be a male at this stage? I ask because we thought mine might be a female and his a male but the weight is the same or within a few grams.

Rob weight is not a very good indication of what sex a chick is , at least at this time.. Example- today before feeding the goshawk chicks, I weighed several of them to show a comparison. These are known DNA tested chicks so I know what they are..

chick 1-female 9 days old--272 gr.
chick 2-female 9 days old--269 gr. these 2 are clutch mates

chick 3-male 11 days old--292 gr.
chick 4-male 9 days old--266 gr. these 2 are also clutch mates

Weight... parentage... quality and quantity of food ate, hydration are all determinative factors, and can vary quite a bit, chick to chick, and clutch to clutch.
Now then, shapes and I suppose measurements to a point are a better source of determining the sex of the bird. For me things I look for are, and not in any order: Head shape, is it cheese head/ wedge shaped , ping-pong ball shaped(?) ,tarsus thickness,and the joint thickness where the toes meet, size of cere, width of head.

In the end it is what it is, enjoy what ever you got, and have fun...

[hcmcelroy]

Barry,

It is always interesting to read your comments about the gos I know you have been there. The Peregrine Fund found a dramatic difference in the weights of aplos at age 15 days. At some point wouldn't the gos begin to show a large difference in weight between the sexes?

Harry.

[robruger1]

Rob weight is not a very good indication of what sex a chick is , at least at this time.. Example- today before feeding the goshawk chicks, I weighed several of them to show a comparison. These are known DNA tested chicks so I know what they are..

chick 1-female 9 days old--272 gr.
chick 2-female 9 days old--269 gr. these 2 are clutch mates

chick 3-male 11 days old--292 gr.
chick 4-male 9 days old--266 gr. these 2 are also clutch mates

Weight... parentage... quality and quantity of food ate, hydration are all determinative factors, and can vary quite a bit, chick to chick, and clutch to clutch.
Now then, shapes and I suppose measurements to a point are a better source of determining the sex of the bird. For me things I look for are, and not in any order: Head shape, is it cheese head/ wedge shaped , ping-pong ball shaped(?) ,tarsus thickness,and the joint thickness where the toes meet, size of cere, width of head.

In the end it is what it is, enjoy what ever you got, and have fun...

I'll be happy either way. My buddy is really hoping his is a male. It is nice to see my birds weight range for age is right in there with yours. The other reason we thought maybe his was male and mine a female was because my birds head and beak looked longer while his face seemed much shorter and blunter. His beak also seemed like it curved down sooner.