harrier

harrier, any of about 11 species of hawks of the subfamily Circinae (family Accipitridae). They are plain-looking, long-legged, and long-tailed birds of slender build that cruise low over meadows and marshes looking for mice, snakes, frogs, small birds, and insects. Harriers are about 50 cm (20 inches) long. They have small beaks, and their face feathers are arranged in facial discs. They nest in marshes or in tall grass and lay four to six dull whitish or bluish eggs.

The best-known harrier is the hen harrier (British), called the northern harrier or marsh hawk in the United States (Circus cyaneus), which breeds in temperate and boreal regions throughout the Northern Hemisphere and in southern South America. Also common are the marsh harrier (C. aeruginosus) 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. Allied species include the cinereous harrier (C. cinereus), found from Peru to the Straits of Magellan; the long-winged harrier (C. buffoni), ranging over all of South America, especially east of the Andes; the South African marsh harrier (C. ranivorus), ranging north to Uganda on the east; and the pied harrier (C. melanoleucus), of central eastern Asia.