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Hen Harrier
(Circus cyaneus)
German name(s): "Kornweihe"
Size: 41-52 cm (incl. tail); wing span 1.0-1.2 m
Weight: 290-400 g (male), 390-750 g (female)
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Similar species |
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Physical description |
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Click here for a physical description
Hen Harriers are small harriers.
Their plumage is
dimorphic, i.e.
males and
females
are different.
Male
Hen Harriers have a grey body, with black wing tips and
off-white underwings with a dark trailing edge
on both the upperside and the underside. The belly, vent, undertail
coverts and "trousers" are a lighter shade of grey than head,
chin, chest and back. The long, thin tail is grey, with lighter
grey barring on the underside.
Females,
being the sole incubators and the species being ground-nesting,
have much more cryptic
plumage.
Apart from some white around the eyes and some streaking
around the neck, the head and upperparts of
females
are dark brownish-grey. The wing coverts have rufous edges,
while the flight feathers have black tips, giving the folded
wings a scalloped appearance.
The front is grey with heavy rufous streaking, in particular
on chin and chest.
The underwings are grey, with darker grey barring on the
flight feathers and rufous barring on the coverts. The
tertiaries are darker grey than the rest of the flight feathers.
Both sexes have yellow irises and a slender downcurved grey bill
with yellow cere. The legs and feet are also yellow.
Juveniles
have a rufous front and underwing coverts, while
the rest of the underwings is dark-grey, with mid-grey panels
that show dark-grey barring. The upperparts of
juveniles
are very similar to those of
females.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Hen
Harrier at Wikipedia .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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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 Hen Harrier is available
HERE
.
Hen Harriers are a partly sedentary, partly migratory species.
Apart from a few locations on the north-African coastal fringe,
they are an entirely Eurasian species.
The breeding range extends all across the width of Eurasia,
roughly
from Britain and Iberia in the West to the Pacific coastline
of Kamchatka and Sakhalin in the East, from about 45 degrees
latitude in the South to the polar circle in the North.
Their winter range extends from parts of Europe via Asia Minor,
parts of the Middle East and south-western Asia, in a band
stretching roughly from Iran via the northern side of the
Himalayas into southern China, South Korea and Japan.
In Europe the Hen Harrier is partly sedentary, partly migratory.
They are sedentary in parts of western and central Europe
(northern Iberia, much of France, Scotland, parts of Ireland,
the Benelux countries and Germany, and
winter visitors in the rest of Europe, eastward of Oder/Neisse
and southward of the Danube river valley, and breeding
migrants anywhere to the East and North of Poland, apart
from the western and northern near-coastal fringe of Norway.
Apart from being breeding migrants in the Pyrenees, they are
NOT found at high altitudes in the major mountain ranges such
as the Alps and the Caucasus (for details see a field guide).
During the breeding season Hen Harrier has a preference
for open taiga, marshes or shallow lakes, moors or heathland,
always near water.
In winter they are found in various types of open country,
but again with a preference for aquatic habitats.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
J. Pires reports spotting Hen Harriers
regularly as winter visitors in the area from the Tejo estuary to
Mora, Evora, Portugal. They have also been found in other parts
of central to southern Portugal.
G. Normand reports spotting a Hen Harrier
near Nieppe, Hauts-de-France, France, in November 2020.
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Photos |
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ADULT |
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MALE |
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Lateral view onto the upperparts of a male Hen Harrier in flight
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, December 2019]
Lateral view of a male Hen Harrier in flight, wings down
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, December 2019]
Lateral/ventral view of the underparts of a male Hen Harrier in flight;
note the broad dark trailing edge on the wings
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, December 2019]
Near-dorsal view of a male Hen Harrier in flight, wings up
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, February 2016]
Near-dorsal view of a male Hen Harrier in flight, wings down
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, February 2016]
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FEMALE |
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Frontal view of a female Hen Harrier in flight
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, March 2019]
Near-frontal view of a female Hen Harrier in flight
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, March 2019]
Near-lateral view of a female Hen Harrier in flight
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, March 2019]
Lateral view of a female Hen Harrier in flight, wings up;
note the darker tertiaries on the underwing compared to the
rest of the wing
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2018]
Lateral view of a female Hen Harrier in flight, wings up
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Lagoa dos Patos, Alvito, Beja, Alentejo, Portugal, November 2021]
Lateral view of a female Hen Harrier in flight, wings flat
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, December 2019]
Lateral view of a female Hen Harrier in flight, wings down
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, December 2019]
Lateral/ventral view of a female Hen Harrier in flight
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, March 2019]
Near-dorsal view of a female Hen Harrier in flight
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, March 2019]
Distant lateral view of a female Hen Harrier in flight; click
on the image to see for comparison a
Carrion Crow
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Near Mora, Evora, Portugal, January 2018]
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IMMATURE/JUVENILE |
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Near-lateral view of a juvenile Hen Harrier in flight; note the
more chestnut appearance compared to the females shown above
(photo courtesy of G. Normand)
[Near Nieppe, Hauts-de-France, France, November 2020]
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.