Een grondbroedende Havik Accipiter gentilis op Ameland, wereldwijd uniek?

The Goshawk colonized the Wadden Sea Island of Ameland in The Netherlands in 2004. The local population steadily increased to 11 pairs in 2013, then remained more or less stable at 8-10 pairs in 2012-16 (when on average 19 young per annum were raised), to decline to only 4 pairs (only two nests successful, each raising 1 chick). Goshawks on Ameland nest in small woodlots planted with coniferous trees, which were partly clear-felled in later years. The island further receives increasing numbers of tourists, leading to increased disturbance of breeding sites on top of habitat fragmentation. Concomitantly, a virus wreaked havoc among rabbits from 2016 onwards, and avian flu is rampant among local birds. The steep decline of Goshawks is thought to be the result of a combination of adverse factors: habitat destruction and fragmentation, human disturbance and declining food resources. Interestingly, in 2021 a ground-nesting Goshawk was detected in a part of the dunes where a pair had nested up to 2015 when management measures destroyed its breeding habitat. The nest contained two eggs, which were incubated by the adult female; its partner was also adult and presumably ringed. Some film footage was obtained of the breeding couple on 7 May, but two weeks later the nest was found deserted.