Crested Goshawk

The crested goshawk is a bird of prey widely distributed in tropical Asia. It has short, broad wings and a long tail, adaptations for manoeuvring through trees, and is 30 to 46 cm long, with the female much larger than the male. It has a short crest. Eleven subspecies are recognised, and layardi is the one listed for Sri Lanka (Wikipedia, general species account).

It was formerly in the genus Accipiter, which was split after studies showed it was not a natural group. Nationally Vulnerable (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012, listed as Accipiter trivirgatus).