Abstract
In this study, we focused on a goshawk population in central Poland (study area 105 km²,forests 24 km², seven small forest complexes) which was monitored long-term (with high densitiesrecorded in the 1980s of 16.3 pairs/100 km² despite persecution by farmers) to analyse howenvironmental factors (prey availability and changes in the forest structure) influenced populationabundance, breeding parameters, and diet composition. The study was undertaken from 2011-2018,and the results were compared with published data from two previous study periods (1982-1992and 2001-2003). The number of breeding pairs dropped from 17.1 to 8.0; the breeding success wasaround 75% in all study periods. The selection of nesting trees followed the changes in stand speciesand age structure. More nesting attempts per one nest were recorded in the current time period (1.7 vs.1.1), which probably reflected lower anthropopressure (i.e., no cases of persecution were recordedin this study). Diet composition seemed to follow changes in the prey availability: The share ofdomestic pigeons and poultry (the main prey in the 1980s) as well as small game dropped, whilethe share of Eurasian jay and wood pigeon increased. Our studies suggested that anthropogenicfood (poultry and domestic pigeons) played a key role for the goshawk population in thetransformed habitats of the field and forest mosaic.