Dave:I’m standing in a typical white pine forest growing on the site of what was once a pasture. And here’s my Something Wild co-host, Chris Martin from NH Audubon.

Chris: Hey everybody.

Dave: Hey, Chris - you know birds…sometimes I find huge stick nests built next to the trunks of second-growth white pines, under the dense canopy.

Chris: Dave, those nests might belong to a Northern Goshawk, an “Accipiter” that hunts within the forest. Accipiters include Cooper’s Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, and all three use short rounded wings and rudder-like tails to weave through trees and branches

Dave: In April, I’ve met Goshawks returning to the same area where I found them defending a nest territory the previous summer. They’re impressive…and aggressive.

Chris: "No kidding!  Accips hunt for mice, squirrels and songbirds. And Goshawks take bigger prey, like snowshoe hares, ruffed grouse, even young turkeys!"

Dave: “Did you know where sunlight reaches the ground along old skid trails and in log landings that lush plant growth provides food and cover for songbirds and small mammal prey? This vegetation is setting the dinner table for raptors!

Chris: Right, and they hunt from exposed branches and use isolated “plucking posts” including stumps in harvested areas to clean their kill before delivering it to hungry nestlings.

Dave: So, for these hawks, even the dead pine limbs offer nesting sites and hunting perches, as well as coarse sticks as material for building nests.

Chris: Heavenly hawk habitat!

Dave: … and all the while, pines make their own food from water and sunlight.

Chris: Really? Are you going to launch that ‘forests are way cooler than birds’ rant again?

Dave: Forests clean the air and protect water quality! Just because trees don’t flap their wings or fly around much…Trees take-in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen!

Chris: Look, I like oxygen just as much as the next mammal, but Dave you have to admit trees don’t hold a candle to watching a Goshawk take out a ruffed grouse.

Dave: Trees may help slow global climate change by storing carbon! How cool is that?

Chris: That was Dave Anderson, and I’m Chris Martin for Something Wild. Something Wild is a joint production of New Hampshire Audubon, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, and NHPR.

Dave: Trees make their own food!  Out of thin air!