BirdLife Australia's Red Goshawk Project

Conservationists from BirdLife Australia are working on the ground with Indigenous Rangers to save the Red Goshawk, Australia’s rarest bird of prey.

The Red Goshawk is one of 110 priority species under the Australian Government’s Threatened Species Action Plan 2022 – 2032. This remarkable bird once populated the Kimberly, across the Top End and all the way down to Sydney, but has now vanished from more than 30% of its former range. It is now considered Australia’s rarest bird of prey.

Conservationists are working to track the trajectory of Red Goshawks, however our site-specific knowledge remains limited. Collectively, we know of between only 10 – 15 active nests in all of mainland Australia in any given year.

As part of the Red Goshawk Project, the BirdLife Australia Terrestrial Birds team have worked alongside Indigenous Rangers from Kakadu, Litchfield National Park and the Tiwi Islands, as well as film production company Trade Creative, to develop a short film that showcases the conservation work that has so far been made possible by the Saving Native Species Program.

The film follows conservationists as they search remote landscapes for signs of these rare and beautiful birds. This is a story about paying attention to our fragile ecosystems, deep connections to Country, and the people working together to protect a bird whose presence signals the health of the landscapes it depends on.

It is the start of an urgent quest to understand what Red Goshawks need to survive and how we can support them before they disappear from our landscapes forever.

This film, produced by Trade Creative, showcases BirdLife Australia’s Red Goshawk project. It takes you into the landscapes where the magnificent Red Goshawk still survives and introduces the people working on the ground, alongside Indigenous Rangers, to protect its future.