Why the Azores Are Called the Azores: The Goshawk Story

Drive Terceira · November 19, 2025

The Goshawk Confusion

If you’ve ever wondered how the Azores got their name, this ambassador’s guide will take you through the full story: history, legend, misidentification, and the real bird behind a 600-year-old name. Perfect reading before you pick up your rental car from Drive Terceira and begin exploring the island.

Before Portugal Arrived: The Azores on Medieval Maps

Long before the Portuguese officially claimed the islands, the Azores appear on 14th-century Genoese and Catalan nautical maps. These early charts show mysterious Atlantic lands labeled Insule de Cabrera, Antillia, and Isolas de Ventura. Historians believe sailors — possibly blown far off course by storms — had reached or sighted these islands decades before Portugal recorded them, giving the archipelago an aura of mystery that shaped their naming.

Portuguese Discovery and Settlement of the Azores

By the early 1400s, Portugal was pushing deeper into the Atlantic under Prince Henry the Navigator. Around 1427, navigator Diogo de Silves reportedly sighted the Azores. Soon after, Gonçalo Velho Cabral led expeditions that founded settlements on Santa Maria, São Miguel, and eventually Terceira. By the mid-15th century, the Azores were firmly part of the Portuguese Crown — a strategic waypoint between continents.

How the Azores Got Their Name: The “Goshawk Islands”

According to tradition, as Portuguese ships neared the islands, sailors saw large raptors circling the volcanic cliffs and believed them to be goshawks — açores in Portuguese. In honor of the sighting, they named the archipelago Ilhas dos Açores.

Here’s the surprising truth: there have never been true goshawks in the Azores. The birds the explorers saw were actually the Azores buzzard (Buteo buteo rothschildi) — an endemic species with a broad-winged, circling flight that resembled the mainland goshawk. Despite the misidentification, the name endured and became the islands’ official identity.

“The Hawks Islands”: How Europe Translated the Name

As Portuguese charts spread across Europe, foreign cartographers translated Açores into their own languages. On several 17th- and 18th-century English nautical charts you’ll find annotations such as “Açores (Hawks) Islands” or “The Hawks Islands.” One rare 18th-century chart even titles the region “A Chart of the Acores (Hawks) Islands.”

The Azores Buzzard: Nature’s Sentinel of the Islands

The Azores buzzard is the only native bird of prey in the archipelago. You’ll often spot them while driving Terceira’s interior roads or coastal cliffs. Non-migratory and protected under regional and EU conservation rules, they play a vital ecological role by controlling populations of rodents, rabbits, and small birds.

From Myth to Memory

Across centuries, the name Açores evolved from a sailor’s observation into a symbol: of exploration, Atlantic identity, and the wild spirit of Terceira and its sister islands. Maps became more accurate, towns grew into thriving communities, but the name — and the legend behind it — remained unchanged.

Today, when you pick up your car from Drive Terceira and begin your journey toward Angra do Heroísmo, Monte Brasil, or the island’s high volcanic interior, remember: you’re following routes shaped by history. Whether or not those early sailors saw real goshawks, their story took flight — and so did the name of the Azores.

Did You Know?

• The “goshawk” on the Azores flag and coat of arms is actually a buzzard.
• The Azores buzzard (Buteo buteo rothschildi) exists nowhere else in the world.
• Early explorers mistook the buzzard’s soaring flight for a true goshawk, giving the Azores their name.