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Project Noah Nature School
Circus hudsonius
Intermediate Male Northern Harrier, Point Reyes National Seashore. In most birds of prey species, the males and females look similar to each other. This is not the case with Nothern Harriers, owl-like hawks who hunt partially by sound. Different color and patterning between males and females is called sexual dimorphism. You can see it's pumpkiny color transition to slate blue on top and soon enough it's whole underside will be pure white. The white mimics the blinding sun so prey looking skywards may be fooled long enough for the raptor to flip around and strike.
Spotted on Oct 19, 2019
Submitted on Oct 26, 2019
4 Comments
Amazing spotting, Josh, and such a cool photo! Well done :)
three times a charm, very nice picture, WTG
Wow,awesome capture Josh,just perfect,congrats and thanks for sharing
Great capture Josh!!