Adult movement and natal dispersal data demonstrate that Northern Goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) are able to travel over long distances, suggesting a large functional population. However, these data are unable to determine whether these movements contribute to gene flow among adjacent breeding areas. We used eight microsatellite DNA loci and mitochondrial DNA control-region sequence data to assess population structure of Northern Goshawks breeding in Utah. Goshawks had moderate levels of genetic variation at microsatellite loci (observed heterozygosity = 50%), similar to levels found in other medium-sized, highly mobile birds. Overall estimates of interpopulation variance in microsatellite alleles (FST = 0.011) and mtDNA haplotypes [...]
