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6

Swamp Harrier (Circus approximans) Alternate name(s): "Marsh Harrier", "Gould's Harrier", "Swamp-hawk", "Wheat-hawk" Aboriginal name(s): "djilyoordo" (WA) Size: 50-60 cm; wing span 1.2-1.5 m Weight: 0.5-0.7 kg (male), 0.7-1.0 kg (female)

Australia: Family Group 6 Family Group 6 Table Osprey Brahminy Kite Whistling Kite Little Eagle Black Kite Square-tailed Kite Black-breasted Buzzard Wedge-tailed Eagle White-bellied Sea-Eagle Spotted Harrier Swamp Harrier Black-shouldered Kite Letter-winged Kite Pacific Baza Collared Sparrowhawk Brown Goshawk Grey Goshawk Red Goshawk Nankeen Kestrel Australian Hobby Peregrine Falcon Brown Falcon Grey Falcon Black Falcon Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Swamp Harriers have an overall dark brown-grey plumage, with a lightly barred tail. Only the underside of the primary flight feathers is lighter grey-brown, while the upperwing is all dark-grey. They have an off-white rump. The irises, legs and feet are greyish-yellow, the talons are black. Juvenile Swamp Harriers are very dark grey-brown. Twitcher's tip In-flight Swamp Harriers can often seen with dangling legs.

Taxonomy, classification See Swamp Harrier at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Swamp Harrier is available HERE . The range of the Swamp Harrier extends from Australia, including Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island, and New Zealand to parts of New Guinea, plus most of the southern Pacific islands, such as the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, as far to the East as French Polynesia. Swamp Harriers can be found everywhere on the Australian continent, including Tasmania. They breed in the southern winter in the far South-West corner of WA and the South-East of the continent (from Adelaide through all of VIC to eastern Tasmania). At least part of the population migrate to the North outside the breeding season, usually populating all of NSW, south-eastern QLD and the Lake Eyre Basin and parts of the tropical North of Australia. Occasionally, though, they can be found in the rest of the continent too (although rarely in the driest parts of the continent). Swamp Harriers hunt in tall grass and reeds around swamps, marshes and other wetlands and above open water. They are therefore often found around various well-vegetated wetlands, including ephemeral wetlands.

Sightings Click here for sighting information We first spotted a Swamp Harrier 20 km South of Narrabri in October 2005. It was seen carrying away a snake that it had just caught. Since then, Swamp Harriers have been spotted by us infrequently in inland NSW, e.g. by roadsides, in low flight above reeds or also in grassland. A single Swamp Harrier was spotted in August 2010, above Narrabri Lake and another in January 2011, 20 km East of Narrabri. A pair was observed by us 15 km South-East of Narrabri in March 2012. A single Swamp Harrier was also observed by us near Jerseyville, NSW, in January 2011. Swamp Harriers were spotted by us in the Hunter Wetlands NP, NSW, on various occasions. In August 2014 we spotted a first-year Swamp Harrier at Fogg Dam CR, NT, while B. Hensen found the species at Lambell's Lagoon, NT, in November 2018. R. Plumtree reports spotting a Swamp Harrier at Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, in November 2014, and another at Lake Omeo, Benambra, East Gippsland, VIC, in February 2017. A. Ross-Taylor reports spotting a Swamp Harrier in a wetland at Carrara, Gold Coast, QLD, in February 2015. In May 2015 a pair of Swamp Harriers was found hanging out near a small farm dam for a short while at Eulah Creek, 20 km East of Narrabri, NSW. A pair of Swamp Harriers was found by us at Macquarie Marshes NR in April 2017. B. Hensen reports finding a Swamp Harrier near Cape Banks, La Perouse, Sydney, NSW, in December 2017. M. Eaton found a Swamp Harrier at Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, in September 2018. M. Windeyer found a Swamp Harrier above an ephemeral wetland by the side of a rural road near Gilgandra, NSW, in June 2020.

Photos

ADULT

MALE

Near-dorsal view of a Swamp Harrier in flight; the general paleness of its plumage and the absence of barring on the tail characterize this bird as an old male (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Near Cape Banks, La Perouse, Sydney, NSW, December 2017]

Near-lateral view of a male Swamp Harrier in flight
[Macquarie Marshes NR, NSW, April 2017]

Lateral view of a male Swamp Harrier in flight; note the thin trailing edge on the underwing and the near-white leg feathers typical of a male
[Macquarie Marshes NR, NSW, April 2017]

FEMALE

Near-frontal view of a harrying female Swamp Harrier in flight; note the rufous leg feathers typical of a female
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, September 2018]

Lateral view of a hovering Swamp Harrier in flight (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, November 2014]

Sex unknown

Near-frontal view of a Swamp Harrier in flight (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, November 2014]

Near-dorsal view of a Swamp Harrier in flight, probably an immature male moulting into adult plumage (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Ensay South, East Gippsland, VIC, November 2014]

Dorsal view of a Swamp Harrier in flight, showing clearly the characteristic white rump of an adult bird
[Macquarie Marshes NR, NSW, April 2017]

Dorsal view of a Swamp Harrier in flight, upsetting the local Grey Teals (photo courtesy of M. Windeyer)
[Near Gilgandra, NSW, June 2020]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Two juvenile Swamp Harriers; one bird is just taking off, while the other is still sitting in the tree (lower left)
[Near Narrabri, NSW, March 2012]

Lateral view of a juvenile Swamp Harrier in flight (photo courtesy of R. Plumtree)
[Lake Omeo, Benambra, East Gippsland, VIC, February 2017]

Clear view of the underwing pattern of a juvenile Swamp Harrier in flight
[Hunter Wetlands NP, NSW, July 2013]

Dorsal view of a juvenile Swamp Harrier in flight
[Hunter Wetlands NP, NSW, December 2016]

Behaviour

Like all species of harriers, Swamp Harriers use a hunting technique called "harrying". An example of this technique is shown HERE.

Food, Diet

Adults: Birds, small mammals

Dependents: As adults

Water intake: None

All raptors are carnivores. Swamp Harriers prey on water birds and waders.

During the first few weeks, raptors feed their chicks with pieces of meat. Later on in their development, the chicks learn to tear apart their parents' prey.

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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