Northern Harrier

Description:

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.

Habitat:

Upper Texas Coast (UTC) 108 BRAZORIA NWR: Brazoria is a vital complex of coastal wetlands and prairie harboring more than 300 bird species. The refuge serves as an end point of the Central Flyway for waterfowl in winter, and an entry point for neotropical migratory songbirds tired from a 600-mile Gulf crossing from Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

Notes:

This one was flying over the grasslands between Teal and Olney Ponds.