Hen Harrier
Circus cyaneus
Also known as: Northern Harrier, Marsh Hawk
Habitat
Ground
Diet
VertFishScav
Active Time
Diurnal
Size
393 g
About This Species
Watch open moorland, rough grassland and coastal marshes for this harrier's low, buoyant quartering flight as it hunts small mammals and birds just above the vegetation. Males are pale grey with black wingtips while females and juveniles are streaky brown, and the species is most visible in late afternoon or early evening when hunting activity peaks. Communal roosts can form outside the breeding season, offering a chance to see several birds gathering at dusk.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- This species has a long history of illegal persecution on grouse moors, so viewing from a considerable distance with a scope rather than approaching nest sites is essential; in the United Kingdom it receives extra legal protection under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, making it a criminal offence to disturb it at or near an active nest.
- Across its wider range in Europe and North America it is also protected under national and international bird protection laws, though enforcement and specific rules vary by country.
- Reporting suspected persecution to the relevant wildlife authority rather than intervening directly is the recommended course of action.
Seasonal Activity
4,650,663 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
Traits
- Diet
- VertFishScav
- Foraging
- Ground
- Activity
- Diurnal
- Body mass
- 393 g
Photo
(c) Dina Nesterkova, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Dina Nesterkova
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.