Marsh harrier
Encyclopedia
The marsh harriers are birds of prey
of the harrier
subfamily. They are medium-sized raptor
s and the largest and broadest-winged harriers. Most of them are associated with marshland and dense reedbeds. They are found almost worldwide, excluding only the Americas
.
Until recently two species were generally recognized: the Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) and the African Marsh Harrier
(C. ranivorus). The Marsh Harrier is now usually split into several species, sometimes as many as six. These are the Western Marsh Harrier
(C. aeruginosus), Eastern Marsh Harrier
(C. spilonotus), Papuan Harrier
(C. spilonotus spilothorax or C. spilothorax), Swamp Harrier
(C. approximans), Réunion Harrier
(C. maillardi maillardi or C. maillardi) and Madagascar Marsh Harrier
(C. maillardi macrosceles or C. macrosceles).
The Western Marsh Harrier
(Circus aeruginosus), often simply called the Marsh Harrier, breeds widely across Europe
and Asia
. It is migratory except in the mildest regions, and winters mainly in Africa
. It hunts small mammal
s, insect
s and bird
s, surprising them as it drifts low over fields and reedbeds.
The Western Marsh Harrier is a typical harrier, with long wings held in a shallow V in its low flight. It also resembles other harriers in having distinct male and female plumages, but its plumages are quite different from those of its relatives. The male has wings with grey and brown sections and black wingtips. Its head, tail and underparts are greyish, except for the chestnut belly. The female is mainly brown with a cream crown and cream leading edge to her wings.
The Eastern Marsh Harrier
(C. spilonotus) breeds in the grasslands and wetlands of southern Siberia
, northern Mongolia
, north-east China
, Manchuria
and Japan
, and migrates
for the northern winter to South-east Asia, the Philippines
and northern Borneo
.
Like all marsh harriers, it favours open, wet environments, and is frequently seen drifting low over ricefields, interspersing long, watchful circling glides with two or three slow, powerful wingbeats. Two subspecies are recognised: C. s. spilonotus of east Asia, and C. s. spilothorax, of New Guinea
and the islands nearby, which is sometimes thought to be a separate species and is often called the Papuan Harrier
.
The Swamp Harrier
(C. approximans) at about 50 to 58 cm is slightly larger than C. spilonotus, often a little darker, and has less heavily barred wings and tail. It is commonly found in suitable habitat anywhere in Australasia
, particularly in the higher rainfall areas to the east, south-east, and south-west, of Australia
and throughout New Zealand
, but also in the tropical north of Australia and the island groups of New Caledonia
, Vanuatu
, Fiji
, Tonga
and the Society Islands
. It is also known as the Australasian Harrier or Pacific Marsh Harrier.
The Madagascar Marsh Harrier
or Madagascar Harrier (C. maillardi) is found on the Indian Ocean
islands of Madagascar
, Réunion
and the Comoros
. It is sometimes split into two species: Madagascar Harrier (Circus macrosceles) and Réunion Harrier (C. maillardi).
The African Marsh Harrier
(C. ranivorus) is a distinct non-migratory species that has not usually been included as a subspecies of C. aeruginosus. It inhabits southern and eastern Africa
.
Bird of prey
Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....
of the harrier
Harrier (bird)
A harrier is any of the several species of diurnal hawks forming the Circinae sub-family of the Accipitridae family of birds of prey. Harriers characteristically hunt by flying low over open ground, feeding on small mammals, reptiles, or birds....
subfamily. They are medium-sized raptor
Bird of prey
Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....
s and the largest and broadest-winged harriers. Most of them are associated with marshland and dense reedbeds. They are found almost worldwide, excluding only the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
.
Until recently two species were generally recognized: the Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus) and the African Marsh Harrier
African Marsh Harrier
The African Marsh Harrier is a bird of prey belonging to the harrier genus Circus. It is found in southern, central and eastern Africa from South Africa north to Sudan with a vagrant record from Nigeria. It is particularly common in the Okavango Delta in Botswana...
(C. ranivorus). The Marsh Harrier is now usually split into several species, sometimes as many as six. These are the Western Marsh Harrier
Western Marsh Harrier
The Western Marsh-harrier is a mid-sized harrier, a bird of prey from temperate and subtropical western Eurasia and adjacent Africa. It is also known as the Eurasian Marsh-harrier....
(C. aeruginosus), Eastern Marsh Harrier
Eastern Marsh Harrier
The Eastern Marsh Harrier is a bird of prey belonging to the marsh harrier group of harriers. It was previously considered to be conspecific with the Western Marsh Harrier but is now usually classified as a separate species. It has two subspecies: C. s. spilonotus in eastern Asia and C. s...
(C. spilonotus), Papuan Harrier
Papuan Harrier
The Papuan Harrier is a bird of prey native to New Guinea which belongs to the harrier genus Circus. It is commonly classified as a subspecies of the Eastern Marsh Harrier of eastern Asia...
(C. spilonotus spilothorax or C. spilothorax), Swamp Harrier
Swamp Harrier
The Swamp Harrier also known as the Marsh Harrier, Australasian Harrier, Kāhu, Swamp-hawk or New Zealand Hawk is a large, slim bird of prey in the family Accipitridae.-Description:...
(C. approximans), Réunion Harrier
Réunion Harrier
The Réunion Harrier or Réunion Marsh Harrier is a bird of prey belonging to the marsh harrier group of harriers. It is now found only on the Indian Ocean island of Réunion where it is known locally as the papangue or pied jaune, although fossil material from Mauritius has been referred to this...
(C. maillardi maillardi or C. maillardi) and Madagascar Marsh Harrier
Madagascar Marsh Harrier
The Malagasy Harrier is a bird of prey belonging to the marsh harrier group of harriers. It inhabits Madagascar and the Comoro Islands in the Indian Ocean. It was formerly regarded as a subspecies of the Réunion Harrier but is increasingly treated as a separate species...
(C. maillardi macrosceles or C. macrosceles).
Species
Western Marsh Harrier
The Western Marsh-harrier is a mid-sized harrier, a bird of prey from temperate and subtropical western Eurasia and adjacent Africa. It is also known as the Eurasian Marsh-harrier....
(Circus aeruginosus), often simply called the Marsh Harrier, breeds widely across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. It is migratory except in the mildest regions, and winters mainly in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. It hunts small mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s, insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s and bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s, surprising them as it drifts low over fields and reedbeds.
The Western Marsh Harrier is a typical harrier, with long wings held in a shallow V in its low flight. It also resembles other harriers in having distinct male and female plumages, but its plumages are quite different from those of its relatives. The male has wings with grey and brown sections and black wingtips. Its head, tail and underparts are greyish, except for the chestnut belly. The female is mainly brown with a cream crown and cream leading edge to her wings.
The Eastern Marsh Harrier
Eastern Marsh Harrier
The Eastern Marsh Harrier is a bird of prey belonging to the marsh harrier group of harriers. It was previously considered to be conspecific with the Western Marsh Harrier but is now usually classified as a separate species. It has two subspecies: C. s. spilonotus in eastern Asia and C. s...
(C. spilonotus) breeds in the grasslands and wetlands of southern Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
, northern Mongolia
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...
, north-east China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Manchuria
Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical name given to a large geographic region in northeast Asia. Depending on the definition of its extent, Manchuria usually falls entirely within the People's Republic of China, or is sometimes divided between China and Russia. The region is commonly referred to as Northeast...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and migrates
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
for the northern winter to South-east Asia, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and northern Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
.
Like all marsh harriers, it favours open, wet environments, and is frequently seen drifting low over ricefields, interspersing long, watchful circling glides with two or three slow, powerful wingbeats. Two subspecies are recognised: C. s. spilonotus of east Asia, and C. s. spilothorax, of New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
and the islands nearby, which is sometimes thought to be a separate species and is often called the Papuan Harrier
Papuan Harrier
The Papuan Harrier is a bird of prey native to New Guinea which belongs to the harrier genus Circus. It is commonly classified as a subspecies of the Eastern Marsh Harrier of eastern Asia...
.
The Swamp Harrier
Swamp Harrier
The Swamp Harrier also known as the Marsh Harrier, Australasian Harrier, Kāhu, Swamp-hawk or New Zealand Hawk is a large, slim bird of prey in the family Accipitridae.-Description:...
(C. approximans) at about 50 to 58 cm is slightly larger than C. spilonotus, often a little darker, and has less heavily barred wings and tail. It is commonly found in suitable habitat anywhere in Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
, particularly in the higher rainfall areas to the east, south-east, and south-west, of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and throughout New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, but also in the tropical north of Australia and the island groups of New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
, Vanuatu
Vanuatu
Vanuatu , officially the Republic of Vanuatu , is an island nation located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is some east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, west of Fiji, and southeast of the Solomon Islands, near New Guinea.Vanuatu was...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
and the Society Islands
Society Islands
The Society Islands are a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean. They are politically part of French Polynesia. The archipelago is generally believed to have been named by Captain James Cook in honor of the Royal Society, the sponsor of the first British scientific survey of the islands;...
. It is also known as the Australasian Harrier or Pacific Marsh Harrier.
The Madagascar Marsh Harrier
Madagascar Marsh Harrier
The Malagasy Harrier is a bird of prey belonging to the marsh harrier group of harriers. It inhabits Madagascar and the Comoro Islands in the Indian Ocean. It was formerly regarded as a subspecies of the Réunion Harrier but is increasingly treated as a separate species...
or Madagascar Harrier (C. maillardi) is found on the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
islands of Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, Réunion
Réunion
Réunion is a French island with a population of about 800,000 located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, about south west of Mauritius, the nearest island.Administratively, Réunion is one of the overseas departments of France...
and the Comoros
Comoros
The Comoros , officially the Union of the Comoros is an archipelago island nation in the Indian Ocean, located off the eastern coast of Africa, on the northern end of the Mozambique Channel, between northeastern Mozambique and northwestern Madagascar...
. It is sometimes split into two species: Madagascar Harrier (Circus macrosceles) and Réunion Harrier (C. maillardi).
The African Marsh Harrier
African Marsh Harrier
The African Marsh Harrier is a bird of prey belonging to the harrier genus Circus. It is found in southern, central and eastern Africa from South Africa north to Sudan with a vagrant record from Nigeria. It is particularly common in the Okavango Delta in Botswana...
(C. ranivorus) is a distinct non-migratory species that has not usually been included as a subspecies of C. aeruginosus. It inhabits southern and eastern Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.