NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
New Britain Goshawk
Tachyspiza princeps (Mayr, 1934)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The New Britain goshawk (Tachyspiza princeps) is a bird of prey species in the family Accipitridae. It is endemic to Papua New Guinea. This species was formerly placed in the genus Accipiter.
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest. It is threatened by habitat loss.
Formerly classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN, it was suspected to be rarer than previously assumed. Following the evaluation of its population status, this was found to be correct, and it is consequently uplisted to vulnerable status in 2008. The first-ever photograph of a New Britain goshawk was taken in March 2024 in the Pomio District of New Britain. In September 2025, the first recorded photographs of a juvenile of the species were taken.
Wikipedia contributors, New Britain goshawk; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:17:35.393555+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Tachyspiza princeps (Mayr, 1934)
- Name authority
- (Mayr, 1934)
- Common name
- New Britain Goshawk
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
- Genus
- Tachyspiza
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderAccipitriformes
- familyAccipitridae Vigors, 1824
- genusTachyspiza Kaup, 1844
- speciesTachyspiza princeps (Mayr, 1934)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Tachyspiza. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Variable GoshawkTachyspiza hiogaster (S. Müller, 1841) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Red-thighed SparrowhawkTachyspiza erythropus (Hartlaub, 1855) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Frances's SparrowhawkTachyspiza francesiae (A. Smith, 1834) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-mantled GoshawkTachyspiza melanochlamys (Salvadori, 1876) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| ShikraTachyspiza badia (J. F. Gmelin, 1788) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Nicobar SparrowhawkTachyspiza butleri (J. H. Gurney Jr, 1898) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Dwarf SparrowhawkTachyspiza nanus (W. Blasius, 1897) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Imitator GoshawkTachyspiza imitator (E. J. O. Hartert, 1926) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Levant SparrowhawkTachyspiza brevipes (Severtsov, 1850) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fiji GoshawkTachyspiza rufitorques (Peale, 1849) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Little SparrowhawkTachyspiza minulla (Daudin, 1800) | AccipitridaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Accipiter princeps Mayr, 1934 Mayr, 1934 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=1253635 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:CVWFP. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.