Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
Other Names Marsh Hawk Description The northern harrier is a sleek bird of prey with a long, narrow tail. The adult male is a pale gray color and the female has a brown back and brown-streaked belly.
Northern harrier Circus cyaneus
Identification Tips:
Length: 16.5 inches Wingspan: 42 inches
Medium-sized, long-winged, long-tailed hawk
Rounded wings, can appear pointed while gliding
White rump
Short, dark, hooked beak ...
NORTHERN HARRIER FACTS
Description
The Northern Harrier is a medium-sized hawk with long tail and slender, rounded wings. It has a ruff of feathers around face. The bill is dark with blue base and yellow skin at base of bill.
Northern Harrier
Circus cyaneus
The Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) is an efficient hunter over grassland and marsh habitats across much of North America.
Northern Harriers normally are summer residents in Alberta, although on rare occasions a male may be seen during the winter months, mainly at the lower latitudes. The first birds to appear in spring are males, arriving during the last week of March.
Northern Harriers hunt on the wing during the day cruising low over open fields or marshlands with their wings held in a V-like pattern. The birds systematically search an area by flying 5 to 30 feet above the vegetation.
Northern Harrier
(Circus cyaneus)
Status: Winter Resident.
Last recorded on site in 2011
Breeding Status:-
1992 to 1996: Possible but not likely
This species is State Endangered.
Distress call similar, but given at higher pitch. Two subspecies recognized: larger northern harrier (Circus cyaneus hudsonius) and Eurasian hen harrier (C. c. cyaneus ) (MacWhirter and Bildstein 1996).
Northern Harrier
Circus cyaneus (Linnaeus)
Status Uncommon in summer, fairly common transient, rare in winter. Breeds. Once common, its numbers have diminished during the past quarter century.
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
This is the long tailed hawk with a white rump patch. It is often seen soaring in a "wobbly" fashion low over marshes, wet meadows, and open fields with wings held out in a shallow "V.
The Northern Harrier has a sound-reflecting facial ruff of feathers, similar to an owl's, which it uses to locate prey. When actively hunting, this species flies low over an area, alternately flapping and gliding.
Northern Harrier
Adult female
Flat face with pale collar
Streaked nape and breast
Very long wings and tail
Yellow eye
White rump in flight
© Kevin Bolton, New Jersey, February 2009 ...
Northern harriers are found mainly in open habitats such as fields, savannas, meadows, marshes, upland prairies, and desert steppe. They also occur in agricultural areas and riparian zones.
Northern Harrier, European Northern Harrier, Marsh Hawk, White-rumped Harrier
Bird Family :
Accipitrinae - Hawks, bazas, honey-buzzards, eagles, kites, vultures, harriers & buzzards ...
Northern Harrier - 2, male and female from Island Path
Rough-legged Hawk - 1 dark adult at Pease just before dusk
Purple Sandpiper - 60+ at various points along the coast ...
Northern harrier
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Northern Harriers, also called Marsh Hawks, inhabit wetlands and fields. They build nests on the ground or in thickets.
Northern harrier (Circus cyaneus)
Harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus)
Lesser black-backed gull (Larus fuscus)
Grey fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)
Long-tailed jaeger (Stercorarius longicaudus)
Subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) ...
Northern Harrier
Summer Sighting Information: occasional
Nest on or near Refuge? yes
Red-tailed Hawk
Summer Sighting Information: occasional
Nest on or near Refuge? yes ...
In northern prairie wetlands meadow voles are a large portion of the diets of red fox (Vulpes vulpes), mink (Mustela vison), short-eared owl, and northern harrier (Circus cyaneus) [20].
Northern Harrier Circus cyaneus: Lake Perris State Recreation Area, Perris, CA, 03 Jan
Sharp-shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus: San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine, CA, 01 Jan ...
Northern Harrier, Circus cyaneus
Pallid Harrier, Circus macrourus
Montagu's Harrier, Circus pygargus
African Harrier Hawk, Polyboroides typus
Lizard Buzzard, Kaupifalco monogrammicus
Dark Chanting Goshawk, Melierax metabates ...
Adults
American black ducks (Anas rubripes), mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), herons (Ardeidae), bitterns (Ardeidae), rails (Rallidae), northern harriers (Circus cyaneus), and crows (Corvus spp.) prey upon both tadpoles and adults (Stockwell 1999).
Nesting American Avocets aggressively attack predators to protect the nest site. They sometimes physically strike Northern Harriers, Common Ravens or other predatory birds.
Page 2: Prairie Falcon, Mountain Bluebird, Great Horned Owl, Golden Eagle (2 photos) and Black-billed Magpie (October 2007), Great White-fronted Geese and Snow Geese (2 photos) and Northern Harrier (2 photos), November 2007.
Its preferred habitats include open prairies, coastal grasslands, tundra, marshes, bogs, savanna, and dunes. Its daytime counterpart is the Northern Harrier and like the Harrier it will usually be seen flying low in its open habitat.
Northern Harrier
posted on March 29, 2011 04:13 PM
My best photo
posted on March 20, 2011 07:23 AM
Banded
posted on February 28, 2010 09:04 PM
my first Cedar Waxwing
posted on March 30, 2011 11:23 AM ...
Predation on clapper rails by non-native species such as red foxes, rats, and domestic cats also poses a major threat to subpopulation numbers in some areas. Natural predators of light-footed clapper rails include red-tailed hawks, northern harriers ...
legs and large webbed feet set near the tail make this "bay duck" a proficient diver but a clumsy walker. In order to cope with poor nesting conditions, Redheads often lay their eggs in the nests of other birds—including the Northern Harrier, ...
There is documentation of dumping on at least 9 other duck species, and even nests of the American Bittern and Northern Harrier. Many parasitically laid eggs fail to hatch because the host female often deserts the nest and then renests elsewhere.
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)
Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus)
Swallow-tailed Kite (Elanoides forficatus) ...
Data from the following species were analyzed: Common Loon, Pied-billed Grebe, Double-crested Cormorant, American Bittern, Great Blue Heron, Green-backed Heron, Osprey, Bald Eagle, Northern Harrier, Virginia Rail, Sora, Spotted Sandpiper, ...
 See also: Hawk, Eagle, Owl, Swallow, Osprey
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