Northern Harrier
Circus hudsonius
Summary 4
The northern harrier or marsh hawk (Circus hudsonius or Circus cyaneus hudsonius) is a bird of prey. Both males and females have a characteristic white patch on the rump. Males are grayish above with dark wing tips, while females are darker and more rufous, and pale with brown streaking on the underside. Northern Harriers hunt by gliding low over wetlands/ open fields, flapping intermittently and make sharp turns when flying. Harriers spend the the non-breeding season in the COSA area, and can generally be spotted there from about October to March
Sources and Credits
- (c) Denver Kramer, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Denver Kramer
- (c) nigel, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Circus_hudsonius_fencepost.jpg
- (c) Circus_hudsonius_male_plumage.jpg, some rights reserved (CC BY), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Circus_hudsonius_male_plumage_cropped.jpg
- Adapted by dirstine from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_hudsonius
