Northern Harrier

COMMON NAME: Northern Harrier

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Circus cyaneus

IDENTIFYING CHARACTERISTICS:
Slim hawks with long wings and tail. Long unfeathered legs and an owl-like facial disk identify the bird at close range. Males are pale gray with streaks of white the tail is gray with brown bars. Females are dark brown with brown and white streaking in front the brown tail is barred with dark stripes. Juveniles resemble female but have a cinnamon brown breast. The conspicuous white rump patch is diagnostic for this species in the field.

RANGE:
The northern harrier breeds from Alaska through Canada and the northern half of the United States. Most winter from the middle United States into Mexico, although harriers from southern Minnesota are occasionally reported in the winter.

HABITAT:
The northern harrier is a grassland raptor generally found in wet meadows. They nest and roost on the ground.

NESTING:
A ground nester, harriers build their nests in tall grass or in the cover of a bush or shrub. Greatly affected by the cycling of vole populations, harriers at times of vole irruptions can be polygamous (a male having more than one mate). They do not mate for life and change the location of their nest site from year to year, the females moving farther than the males.

FEEDING HABITS:
Capable of taking a wide variety of prey from rodents to birds, insects, reptiles, and amphibians, harriers most commonly depend on voles for food. So dependent are harriers on vole numbers that one researcher has called them "the hawk that is ruled by a mouse."

RAPTOR CENTER DATA:
Not a common patient, we do not receive more than a few harriers each year. They are very difficult birds to maintain in captivity. They seem to undergo greater stress than most raptors and are often unwilling to eat anything but mice.

CONSERVATION STATUS:
Not officially listed in Minnesota, but their numbers seem to be diminishing. Loss of grasslands to agriculture, industrial development and urban sprawl threatens the future of northern harrier populations.

Other Web Resources:

Northern Goshawk Range
Minnesota Ornithologists' Union bird range map

Additional Information (not specifically about hawks):
Publications