Northern Harrier

摘要

Until a few decades ago, Northern Harrier was officially called the Marsh Hawk, and the name still fits. A classic winter sight is one of the predators gliding over a marsh or overgrown field, its long wings held up in a shallow V. Harriers occur almost throughout the lower 48 states in winter and over most of Canada, Alaska, and the northern states in summer, always in open country.The species' most famous field mark is the white patch on the uppertail coverts and rump. It can be obvious at a greatdistance. However, a wide variety of other hawks have white on the rump or on the base of the tail, including Rough-legged Hawks, many Swainson's Hawks, and others. So we shouldn't rely solely on the field mark for ID.