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Circus cyaneus hudsonius
Immature Description Juvenile similar to adult female, but with rusty wash across mostly unstreaked underparts. Female Description Back dark brown, with many feathers edged with tawny. Face streaked brown and whitish. Face outlined by white facial disk. Chest and belly streaked dirty white and tan. Rump white. Upper side of wings brown, lower side barred white and dark brown. Tail brown with dark bars. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/North...
It is the only Harrier in North America. It is found in marshlands and open fields in United States including Alaska, Canada and Eurasia.
The Northern Harrier is like a Stealth Bomber; its soft feathers make it deadly and silent. It comes in low and slow and doesn’t scream at its prey, rather glides around its feeding area and takes small prey by surprise. According to Cornell University, it may also hunt rabbits and ducks, killing its prey by drowning
found this on migration
Summer Range: Northern Harriers’ breeding range spans North America from Alaska to Newfoundland, and south to North Carolina. Adults arrive on the breeding grounds at any time from February to early June, with males preceding females by days or weeks.
Winter Range: Migrating Harriers travel singly or in small groups, and prefer to follow coastlines in their migration patterns to take advantage of strong thermal air currents. Harriers that breed in the northern United States tend to fan out across the southern two-thirds of the country, while Harriers from arctic breeding ranges fly farther south, many to Central America, Venezuela and Colombia. A few Harriers may remain on the northern breeding range through the winter, as long as snow cover doesn’t interfere with their hunting success.
http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/birds/north...
In some parts of Europe people believed that seeing a harrier perched on a house was a sign that three people would die; on a happier note, some Native American tribes believe that seeing a hawk on your wedding day is a sign of a long, happy marriage. Unlike many raptors, Hen or Northern Harriers have historically been favorably regarded by farmers because they eat predators of quail eggs and mice that damage crops. Harriers are sometimes called "good hawks" because they pose no threat to poultry as some hawks do.
All sexes in all plumages have white rumps. Adult females are more marked on the belly and chest. Immatures are not sexually dimorphic, aside from subadult males, which show a tint of gray.
So, this is an immature. No way to tell whether male or female at this stage.
I thought all Harriers have the white rump patch. Nuts.. Now I'm gonna have to look that up! LOL
Fantastic capture Emma,beautiful bird and excelent photos,congrats and thanks for sharing,very good work
Spotted on Nov 6, 2012
Submitted on Nov 6, 2012
+5
