Northern harrier (Circus cyaneus)

Description

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Northern harrier fact file

• Description
• Biology
• Range
• Habitat
• Status
• Threats
• Conservation
• Find out more
• Glossary
• References
• Print factsheet

Northern harrier description

The northern harrier is a slender, medium-sized hawk, with a long tail, wings and legs, a characteristic white rump, and a distinctive ‘facial disc’, which gives it an owl-like appearance ^{(3) (5) (6)}. The male is grey above and white underneath, with obvious black wing-tips and contrasting yellow legs, eyes and facial skin. The female is larger and is quite different in appearance, being dark brown above, paler below, with dark streaks, and with bars on the wings and tail ^{(3) (5) (7) (8)}. Juvenile northern harriers resemble the female, but are usually darker above and more reddish-brown below, sometimes without streaking ^{(2) (3) (5) (8)}. The northern harrier uses a variety of calls, including a long, rapid series of kek notes, a piercing, descending scream, given by the female when soliciting food from the male, and a soft, chuckling call at the nest ^{(5) (6)}.

Also known as

Hen harrier, marsh hawk.

French

Busard Saint-Martin.

Size

Length: 43 - 52 cm ⁽²⁾

Wingspan: 99 - 121 cm ⁽²⁾

Male weight: 290 - 400 g ⁽³⁾

Female weight: 370 - 708 g ⁽³⁾

Northern harrier biology

Typically hunting from a slow, buoyant flight, usually quite low to the ground, the northern harrier takes a variety of prey, ranging from small mammals and birds to reptiles, amphibians, insects, larger mammals and birds, and sometimes carrion ^{(2) (3) (5) (6)}. Unlike other hawks, it relies heavily on sound as well as vision to detect prey, aided by the facial disc which, as in owls, is thought to help with the location of faint sounds, allowing the harrier to detect prey concealed in vegetation ^{(3) (5) (6) (8)}.

The northern harrier commonly perches and even roosts on the ground, and outside of the breeding season often gathers in communal roosts, sometimes numbering tens or even, rarely, hundreds of birds. It also often nests in loose colonies, sometimes practicing an unusual degree of polygyny, with males simultaneously raising several broods with as many as seven different females ^{(2) (3) (5) (6)}. Breeding usually takes place from April to July ⁽²⁾, the male performing a spectacular aerial ‘sky-dance’ at the start of the season, involving a series of steep climbs and near vertical plunges, with twists, rolls, spirals and loops, accompanied by much calling ^{(3) (6)}.

The nest is built on the ground, usually in dense clumps of vegetation, and comprises a pile of sticks, grasses, sedges and other materials. Around 3 to 6 eggs are laid, and are incubated by the female for 29 to 31 days. During this time, and until the chicks are about two weeks old, the male brings almost all the food, transferring it to the female in impressive aerial passes, in which the food is dropped by the male and then caught by the female in mid-air ^{(2) (3) (5) (6)}. The young fledge at 29 to 42 days, and are dependent on the adults for several more weeks. Sexual maturity is reached at around 2 to 3 years, and lifespan may be up to 16 years ^{(2) (3) (5)}.

Northern harrier range

The northern harrier is the most northerly breeding and one of the most widespread of all harrier species ⁽⁹⁾, occurring across much of North America, Europe and Asia. In North America, the subspecies Circus cyaneus hudsonius can be found from Alaska and Canada south to Mexico, wintering as far south as Central or South America and the Caribbean. Circus cyaneus cyaneus occurs throughout Europe and north Asia to Kamchatka, wintering as far south as northern Africa, through southern Asia, to southeast China and Japan ^{(2) (3) (5) (10)}.

You can view distribution information for this species at the National Biodiversity Network Gateway.

Northern harrier habitat

This species inhabits a wide variety of open habitats with low ground cover, including grassland, wetlands and marshland, estuaries, riparian woodland, meadows, moorland, pasture, cropland, scrub, steppe, and semi-desert ^{(2) (3) (5) (8)}.

Northern harrier status

Classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List ⁽¹⁾ and listed on Appendix II of CITES ⁽⁴⁾.

Northern harrier threats

The northern harrier still has a large range and a large global population ⁽¹⁰⁾, but has been undergoing a decline during the last century, mainly as a result of habitat degradation. In particular, the draining of wetlands, reforestation of farmlands, and intensification of agriculture are thought to have reduced prey availability and nesting sites ^{(2) (5) (6) (11)}. Illegal persecution is also a problem in some areas, particularly on managed grouse moors, where the northern harrier often predates grouse chicks ^{(2) (5) (11)}. One study between 1988 and 1995 estimated that, on average, 11 to 15 percent of the breeding female northern harriers in Scotland were killed by humans each year on grouse moors ⁽¹²⁾. Other threats include organochloride pesticides, thought to reduce eggshell thickness and decrease reproductive success ^{(3) (5)}.

Northern harrier conservation

The northern harrier is listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), meaning international trade in the species should be carefully controlled ⁽⁴⁾. It is also listed on Appendix II of the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), which aims to conserve migratory species throughout their range ⁽¹³⁾, and is protected under a range of legislation in Europe ^{(14) (15)}. No specific conservation measures are reported to be in place in North America, but protection of undisturbed habitats and further study of the species at its winter roosts have been recommended ⁽⁵⁾.

The scale of illegal killing of northern harriers in Britain has led to a range of initiatives, such as Natural England’s Hen Harrier Recovery Project, which aims to monitor breeding numbers and to address ongoing illegal persecution ^{(11) (16)}. It is believed that without an end to such persecution, the ability of this unique bird of prey to recover in this and other areas will sadly be severely limited ⁽¹⁶⁾.

There may be further information about this species available via the National Biodiversity Network Gateway.

Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi is a principal sponsor of ARKive. EAD is working to protect and conserve the environment as well as promoting sustainable development in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Find out more

To find out more about the conservation of the northern harrier see:

• Natural England. (2008) A Future for the Hen Harrier in England? Natural England, Sheffield, UK. Available at:
  http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/Images/hen_harrier_report221208_tcm6-9451.pdf
• RSPB - Hen Harrier:
  http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/species/casestudies/henharrier.asp
• The Cornell Lab of Ornithology - Northern Harrier:
  http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Harrier/id

For more information on this and other bird species please see:

• BirdLife International:
  http://www.birdlife.org

Authentication

Authenticated (15/10/09) by Dr Keith L. Bildstein, Sarkis Acopian Director of Conservation Science, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.
http://www.hawkmountain.org

Glossary

Carrion

The flesh of a dead animal.

Incubate

To keep eggs warm so that development is possible.

Polygyny

In animals, a pattern of mating in which a male has more than one female partner.

Riparian

Relating to the banks of watercourses.

Steppe

A biome (or subdivision of the Earth’s surface) that is composed of a swathe of temperate grassland stretching from Romania to China.

Subspecies

A population usually restricted to a geographical area that differs from other populations of the same species, but not to the extent of being classified as a separate species.

References

1. IUCN Red List (June, 2009)
   http://www.iucnredlist.org
2. del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A. and Sargatal, J. (1994) Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: New World Vultures to Guineafowl. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
3. Ferguson-Lees, J. and Christie, D.A. (2001) Raptors of the World. Helm Identification Guides, A & C Black Publishers, London.
4. CITES (June, 2009)
   http://www.cites.org
5. Macwhirter, R.B. and Bildstein, K.L. (1996) The Birds of North America Online: Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca. Available at:
   http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/210/
6. Snyder, N. and Snyder, H. (2006) Raptors of North America: Natural History and Conservation. Voyageur Press, Osceola, Wisconsin.
7. Peterson, R.T., Mountfort, G. and Hollom, P.A.D. (1993) Collins Field Guide: Birds of Britain and Europe. HarperCollins Publishers, London.
8. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology - All About Birds: Northern Harrier (June, 2009)
   http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Harrier/id
9. Bildstein, K.L. (2006) Migrating Raptors of the World: Their Ecology and Conservation. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York.
10. BirdLife International (June, 2009)
    http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=3407&m=0
11. RSPB: Hen Harrier (June, 2009)
    http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/conservation/species/casestudies/henharrier.asp
12. Etheridge, B., Summers, R.W. and Green, R.E. (1997) The effects of illegal killing and destruction of nests by humans on the population dynamics of the hen harrier Circus cyaneus in Scotland. Journal of Applied Ecology, 34: 1081 - 1105.
13. Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (June, 2009)
    http://www.cms.int
14. EC Birds Directive (June, 2009)
    http://www.jncc.gov.uk/page-1373
15. Council of Europe: Bern Convention (June, 2009)
    http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/conventions/bern/
16. Natural England. (2008) A Future for the Hen Harrier in England?. Natural England, Sheffield, UK. Available at:
    http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/Images/hen_harrier_report221208_tcm6-9451.pdf