A catalogued immature specimen of the Pemba African Goshawk in the National Museums of Kenya

Abstract

An immature male of the isolated population of the small-sized Pemba African Goshawk Accipiter tachiro pembaensis is described: it has speckled ventral side as have its closest relatives on the mainland, but its thighs are washed rufous, a characteristic announcing the brightly colored adult plumage. This finding is interesting because the immature plumage is considered as a feature useful for the study of evolution in Accipiter.

Journal of East African Natural History Vol. 84 (1) 1995: pp. 35-38