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Northern Harrier

Circus cyaneus ORDER: FALCONIFORMES FAMILY: ACCIPITRIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

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Northern Harrier Photo

© Fred K.Truslow / CLO

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.

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Appearance

Hawks
Hawks
Typical Voice

Adult Description

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

Male Description

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 Description

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 Description

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

Range Map Help

Northern Harrier Range Map
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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.