Hen Harrier

How to identify

Field marks

1. Male has a gray back, white belly and black wingtips
2. Female has a rufous back and white uppertail-coverts
3. Female underparts buff with brown barring
4. Wings and tail relatively long; wings held in a shallow V in flight

Male, female and young

Sexes differ markedly in plumage. Juvenile resembles female, but has less distinct barring and fewer bars on the belly.

Voice

Male gives “chek-chek-chek”, changing to a more bouncing “chuk-uk-uk-uk” during display flight.

Where and when it's recorded

Busiest months: October–December · Most records: Spain, China, Portugal

Hen Harrier has been recorded at 1,629 of the 8,276 birding hotspots we track, in 84 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Lezíria Grande de Vila Franca de Xira – área geralPortugal1,602 records
2. El Oso – Laguna y entornoSpain1,176 records
3. LindusSpain865 records

Countries and regions with the most records

SpainChinaPortugalUnited KingdomSwedenGreeceTürkiyeIndia

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The hen harrier (Circus cyaneus) is a bird of prey. It breeds in open areas such as marshes and grasslands in Eurasia and is migratory, moving further south outside of the breeding season. Birds in milder regions, such as France and Great Britain, may be resident year-round, but the higher altitudes are largely deserted in winter.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions