Western Marsh Harrier

How to identify

Field marks

1. Male rufous, with silvery-gray midwings
2. Male has a long gray tail and a pale gray head
3. Female dark brown, with pale yellow crown and throat
4. Stouter than other harriers, with a larger wingspan

Male, female and young

Female larger and heavier, dark brown; male rufous with silvery-gray midwings. Juvenile resembles female, usually with less yellow on scapulars.

Voice

Calls resemble those of Northern Lapwing and are heard only at breeding sites; male gives nasal “hijäe” and “quiä” calls when stooping.

Where and when it's recorded

Western Marsh Harrier has been recorded at 1,787 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 124 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Titchwell Marsh RSPB ReserveUnited Kingdom7,526 records
2. Minsmere RSPB ReserveUnited Kingdom5,846 records
3. Lezíria Grande de Vila Franca de Xira – área geralPortugal4,285 records

Countries and regions with the most records

SpainUnited KingdomIndiaPortugalIsraelTürkiyeUnited Arab EmiratesGreece

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 western marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus) is a large harrier, a bird of prey from temperate and subtropical western Eurasia and adjacent Africa. It is also known as the Eurasian marsh harrier. Formerly, a number of relatives were included in C. aeruginosus, which was then known as "marsh harrier".

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

Questions