The northern harrier, also known as the marsh hawk or ring-tailed hawk, is a bird of prey. It breeds throughout the northern parts of the northern hemisphere in Canada and the northernmost USA.
Northern harrier
Juvenile flying at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, USA
Female in flight at the Llano Seco Unit of the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex in California
Northern harrier male perched on shrub at Point Reyes National Seashore
A harrier is any of the several species of diurnal hawks sometimes placed in the subfamily Circinae of the bird of prey family Accipitridae. Harriers characteristically hunt by flying low over open ground, feeding on small mammals, reptiles, or birds. The young of the species are sometimes referred to as ring-tail harriers. They are distinctive with long wings, a long narrow tail, the slow and low flight over grasslands and skull peculiarities. The harriers are thought to have diversified with the expansion of grasslands and the emergence of C4 grasses about 6 to 8 million years ago during the Late Miocene and Pliocene.
Harrier (bird)
Northern harrier, adult male
A male Montagu's harrier displays the signature upswept wings and grassland habitat.
