In response to Diann's comments on Chanting Goshawks, I just did a little
look-up on the Chanting Goshawks in Handbook of the Birds of the World
edited by de Hoya et al. They detail three species -- Dark, Eastern and
Pale -- which seem to occupy dry brush areas with little overlap. I
couldn't read all the preliminary text on Hawks, etc but did not note any
reference to 'chanting' in a quick scan of about 50 pages. However, in the
general description accompanying the illustrations the following comments
were made:

Dark --- "Vocal, chanting from tree top before nesting."

Eastern --- "Performs nocturnal communal aerial display with calling
on moonlit nights."

Pale --- "Chants from prominent perch with tail spread."

The 'chant' is never described (at least I didn't see the description).
There is comment about Dark Chanting Goshawk of 'During breeding season, a
melodius piping whee-pee-pee-pee from perch or in flight; also a long-drawn,
high-pitched klee-yeu.' mentioned in Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania by
Zimmerman et al. They also state that Eastern Pale Chanting Goshawk (Pale
Chanting Goshawk) 'the calls are slightly lower-pitched.

None of this sounds like Gregorian chants to me!!


Bob Taylor
Sumner, WA, USA
taylorrt at msn.com