Northern Harrier

Circus cyaneus

Order FALCONIFORMES - Family ACCIPITRIDAE - Subfamily Accipitrinae

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A long-winged, long-tailed hawk of open grassland and marshes, the Northern Harrier forages by flying slowly low above the ground looking for small rodents. It is one of the few raptors in which the sexes look quite different: the male is white below with a light gray back and hood, the female is mottled in browns.

Cool Facts

• Most male Northern Harriers are mated to one or two females at the same time. Some males pair with up to five mates in a season. Females incubate the eggs and brood the offspring, while the male provides the bulk of the food for his mates and their nestlings.
• Unlike other hawks, the Northern Harrier relies on its hearing as well as its vision to capture prey. The feathers of the face are stiff to help transmit sound, and it shows a pronounced "facial disk," much like that of an owl.

• The Northern Harrier feeds primarily on mice, other small mammals, and small birds. It will, however, take larger prey, such as rabbits and ducks. It has been known to subdue large prey by drowning it.

Description

• Size: 46-50 cm (18-20 in)
• Wingspan: 102-118 cm (40-46 in)
• Weight: 300-750 g (10.59-26.48 ounces)

• Medium-sized hawk.
• Long tail.
• Long, slender, rounded wings.
• White rump.
• Flies low, with wings held up in slight "V."

• Ruff of feathers around face.
• Yellow skin at base of bill.
• Bill dark with bluish base.
• Eyes yellow.
• Legs and feet orange-yellow.

Sex Differences

Male gray on back, light below, and wingtips black. Female brown on back and striped brown and white below. Female larger.

Male

Head, back, and upper chest light gray. Chest and belly white, usually with some rusty markings extending onto flanks. Wingtips black. Line of black on rear of wings. Underwings white. Tail darkish gray above and whitish below, with some barring. Rump white.

Female

Back dark brown, with many feathers edged with tawny. Face streaked brown and whitish. Face outlined by white facial disk. Chest and belly streaked dirty white and tan. Rump white. Upper side of wings brown, lower side barred white and dark brown. Tail brown with dark bars.

Immature

Juvenile similar to adult female, but with rusty wash across mostly unstreaked underparts.

Similar Species

• Rough-legged Hawk has white base of the tail and hunts over open areas, but has broader wings, a shorter tail, black on the belly, and shows white at the base of the underside of the tail.

Sound

Courtship call a series of "kek" or "ke" notes. Also a piercing, descending scream.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Breeds across Alaska and Canada, southward to California, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Maryland. Also across Eurasia.

Winter Range

Winters from southern Canada throughout the United States southward throughout Central America and the Caribbean to northern South America. Also in Eurasia and northern Africa.

Habitat

Open wetlands, meadows, pastures, prairies, grasslands, croplands, and riparian woodlands.

Food

Small mammals, birds, reptiles, and frogs.

Behavior

Foraging

Hunts on wing, flying low over open habitats.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Platform of vegetation placed on ground in open field or meadow.

Egg Description

White and unspotted.

Clutch Size

Usually 4-6 eggs. Range: 2-10.

Condition at Hatching

Covered in white down, with eyes open.

Conservation Status

Populations declined in 20th century from loss of wetlands and changes in farming practices. Now stable or slightly declining in most areas.

Other Names

Busard Saint-Martin (French)
Aguilucho pálido, Gavilán rastrero, Gavilán sabanero (Spanish)
Hen Harrier (British), Marsh Hawk (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

MacWhirter, R. B., and K. L. Bildstein. 1996. Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus). In The Birds of North America, No. 210 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists? Union, Washington, D.C.