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Circus cyaneus
A long-winged, long-tailed hawk of open grassland and marshes, the Northern Harrier forages by flying slowly low above the ground looking for small rodents. It is one of the few raptors in which the sexes look quite different: the male is white below with a light gray back and hood, the female is mottled in browns.
Pamunkey River, Virginia. A tidal tributary of York River Lat: 37.79, Long: -77.39
Pamunkey River, Virginia. A tidal tributary of York River Lat: 37.79, Long: -77.39
Spotted on Feb 15, 2011
Submitted on Sep 3, 2012
3 Comments
Did it have yellow eyes and white on it's tail?
Not laughing..promise...ok... not laughing much ....actually I was leaning towards a Male Northern Harrier http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/north...
This guy was most assuredly hunting this field. I had finished my paddle and while heading to out to another launch to scout, spotted him in the field, took me a few minutes to dig out my camera ( I now keep bag in cab right next to me) He was working this field and fast...
Don't laugh. Okay - you can if you want! - I wonder if this is a pigeon. The tail shape and length look similar, as does the shape of the head. The habitat fits too, because I have pigeons in our fields here daily.