Swamp Harrier
Circus approximans
Also known as: Australasian Harrier, Australasian Marsh-Harrier, Australasian Harrier Hawk, Harrier Hawk, Pacific Marsh Harrier
About This Species
Flies low over marshes, grassland and farmland with slow, flapping flight and wings held in a shallow V, hunting small mammals, birds and carrion. Early morning and late afternoon are the best times to see it quartering back and forth along wetland edges in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Nests are built on the ground in dense vegetation and are easily trampled or abandoned if disturbed, so keep 50 metres or more from any suspected nest site and avoid walking through likely nesting habitat during the breeding season.
- It is protected under wildlife legislation in both Australia and New Zealand.
LCAvesAccipitriformesAccipitridae
Seasonal Activity
301,402 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Accipitriformes
- Family
- Accipitridae
Photo
(c) Ricardo Simao, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Ricardo Simao
CC-BY-NC-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.