Red Goshawks are quite rare, not so much in northern Australia, but records in the southern states are very few and far between. An imposing bird, with huge talons, few birds of prey cause as much excitement amongst birdwatchers in Australia as a sighting of a Red Goshawk.

Red Goshawks probably mate for life and live as pairs in large permanent territories - they nest in much the same place year after year. The distribution of these territories is very scattered. Most of the known ones are in far northern Australia, particularly the top end of the N.T. but also on Cape York and in the Kimberleys. They were also known to inhabit far SE Queensland and adjacent NE NSW - possibly only a couple of pairs.

Red Goshawks feed over the forests, flying low over the treetops, clearings and river margins and they have adapted to spending long periods in the air. Birds figure largely in their diet, even quite large birds at times, like a Brush Turkey.