Pallid Harrier

This medium-sized raptor breeds on open plains, bogs and heathland. In winter it is a bird of open country.

The Pallid Harrier is classified as Near Threatened (NT), is close to qualifying for or is likely to qualify for a threatened category in the near future.

The Pale or Pallid Harrier (Circus macrourus) is a migratory bird of prey of the harrier family. It breeds in southern parts of eastern Europe and central Asia and winters mainly in India and southeast Asia. It is a very rare vagrant to Great Britain and western Europe, although remarkably a juvenile wintered in Norfolk in the winter of 2002/3. This medium-sized raptor breeds on open plains, bogs and heathland. In winter it is a bird of open country. More

The pallid harrier male has very pale grey upperparts and is white below. In flight, the distinctive black wing tips can be seen (2). The female is brown, with a paler belly and a heavily marked breast and head (2). Young pallid harriers have colouration similar to the female, except with a rusty coloured underbody (2). The genus name of the pallid harrier, Circus, refers to the male’s circling, acrobatic flight display, undertaken to impress a female during courtship (4). More

Aspects of the topic pallid harrier are discussed in the following places at Britannica. Assorted References * description and range (in harrier (bird)) ...and Montagu’s harrier (C. pygargus) ranging over most of Europe and from the Mediterranean shores of North Africa to Mongolia. The pallid harrier (C. macrourus) breeds from the Baltic to southeastern Europe and Central Asia. More

Pallid Harrier can be very similar and may give rise to long identification debates. More

Male pallid harrier on buffalo skull Male pallid harrier on buffalo skullPrint factsheet Facts - French: Busard Pâle Spanish: Aguilucho Papialbo Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata Class Aves Order Falconiformes Family Accipitridae Genus More

Pallid Harrier determination Similar species Accipitridae Black Kite | Black Vulture | Black-Shouldered Kite | Bonellis Eagle | Booted Eagle | Buzzard | Egyptian Vulture | Golden Eagle | Greater Spotted Eagle | Griffon | Honey-Buzzard | Imperial Eagle | Lammergeier | Lappet-faced Vulture | Lesser Spotted Eagle | Levant Sparrowhawk | Long-Legged Buzzard | More

the Pallid Harrier theory and thought perhaps it was either Montagu's Harrier or North American Marsh Hawk. Vaughan's image clarifies all this. The bird has dark tips to the inner primaries - clearly a Montagu's Harrier feature. The pale collar is surprisingly obvious in the images (appeared as a wash of white on the rear-crown in the field) and is too broad for Pallid. The bird also has too much white around the eye socket isolating the ear-covert patch. More

Pallid Harriers hunt either singly or in small groups across open plains. In Kenya they are often seen feeding on termite nymphs. In their winter grounds insects (particularly locusts) form an important part of their diet while the rest of the time they prey on rodents, birds and small mammals. Larks and pipits are probably an important part of their diet throughout the year. Their preferred habitats are open grassy plains or dry steppes and they are equally at home in flat or undulating territory. More

From eastern Europa the Pallid Harrier can be found eastwards to Mongolia and China and south to Iran. Migration - Migratory. Pallid Harries spend the in Africa south of the Sahara and also in southern Asia like Iran, India and Myanmar. The species is nomadic in its the winter range , following food supply (like locusts). Leaves the breeding grounds from the end of August on. More

* Pallid Harrier in Poland1:04 * Ajouter à la file d'attente Ajoutée à la file d'attente Pallid Harrier in Poland851 vuesAvestom * Stäpphök (Circus macrourus, Pallid Harrier) vid Broängarna1:46 * Ajouter à la file d'attente Ajoutée à la file d'attente Stäpphök (Circus macrourus, Pallid Harrier) vid... More

Pallid Harriers prey on small mammals, lizards and birds, surprising them as they drift low over fields and moors. The nest of this species is on the ground into which 4-6 whitish eggs are laid. More

For the purposes of our bird news services, Pallid Harrier is classed as Mega: species that have not yet occurred in the British Isles or are exceedingly rare, or are otherwise highly desirable. More