Harrier (bird)

Harriers
Montagu's Harrier
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Falconiformes (but see there)
Family:	Accipitridae
Subfamily:	Circinae
Genera
Circus Geranospiza Polyboroides

A harrier is any of the several species of diurnal hawks forming the Circinae sub-family of the Accipitridae family of birds of prey. Harriers characteristically hunt by flying low over open ground, feeding on small mammals, reptiles, or birds.

Most harriers are placed in the genus Circus, the scientific name arising from the circling movements female and male make when courting. Two other harriers are in the genus Polyboroides, the harrier-hawks, which are allopatric (geographically separated) and restricted to the Afrotropic ecozone. The remaining single species forms the monotypic genus Geranospiza.

Species list

• Genus Circus
  • Montagu's Harrier, Circus pygargus
  • Northern Harrier, Circus cyaneus
  • Western Marsh Harrier, Circus aeruginosus
  • Eastern Marsh Harrier, Circus spilonotus
    • Papuan Harrier, Circus spilonotus spilothorax
  • African Marsh Harrier, Circus ranivorus
  • Swamp Harrier, Circus approximans
  • Malagasy Harrier, Circus macrosceles (formerly in C. maillardi)
  • Réunion Harrier, Circus maillardi
  • Long-winged Harrier, Circus buffoni
  • Spotted Harrier, Circus assimilis
  • Black Harrier, Circus maurus
  • Cinereous Harrier, Circus cinereus
  • Pallid Harrier, Circus macrourus
  • Pied Harrier, Circus melanoleucos
  • Eyles' Harrier, Circus eylesi (prehistoric)
  • Wood Harrier, Circus dossenus (prehistoric)
• Genus Polyboroides
  • Madagascar Harrier-Hawk, Polyboroides radiatus
  • African Harrier-Hawk, Polyboroides typus
• Genus Geranospiza
  • Crane Hawk, Geranospiza caerulescens

See also

• Ring-tail harrier, an informal term for the juveniles and females of several harrier species.

References

• Ferguson-Lees, Christie, Franklin, Mead, and Burton. Raptors of the World. London: Christopher Helm, 1999. ISBN 0713680261.

External links

• Harrier videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• Harrier videos on the Internet Bird Collection

This Falconiformes article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Subfamilies of birds Harriers Falconiformes stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР? Haute-Marne Accipitridae Look at other dictionaries: Harrier — can mean: * Harrier Jump Jet vertical take off and landing fighter/attack aircraft and derivatives: ** Hawker Siddeley Harrier 1st generation Harrier ** BAE Sea Harrier Maritime strike/air defence fighter ** AV 8 Harrier II 2nd generation Harrier …   Wikipedia harrier — Ⅰ. harrier [1] ► NOUN ▪ a person who harries others. Ⅱ. harrier [2] ► NOUN ▪ a hound of a breed used for hunting hares. ORIGIN from HARE(Cf. ↑h …   English terms dictionary Harrier Hawk — Taxobox name = Harrier Hawk status = LC | status system = IUCN3.1 image width = 300px regnum = Animalia phylum = Chordata classis = Aves ordo = Accipitriformes familia = Accipitridae genus = Polyboroides species = P. typus binomial = Polyboroides …   Wikipedia Harrier GR.5 — AV 8B Harrier II Pour les articles homonymes, voir GR.5. AV 8B Harrier II / Harrier GR Mk 5 …   Wikipédia en Français harrier — 1. n. a person who harries or lays waste. 2. n. 1 a a hound used for hunting hares. b (in pl.) a pack of these with huntsmen. 2 a group of cross country runners. Etymology: HARE + IER, assim. to HARRIER(1) 3. n. any bird of prey of the genus… …   Useful english dictionary harrier — harrier1 noun a person who harries others. harrier2 noun a hound of a breed used for hunting hares. Origin ME hayrer, from hare + er1. harrier3 noun a long winged, slender bodied bird of prey with low quartering flight. [Genus Circus: several… …   English new terms dictionary hen harrier — noun a harrier (bird) of open country, the male of which is mainly pale grey and the female brown. [Circus cyaneus.] …   English new terms dictionary marsh harrier — noun a large harrier (bird) that frequents marshes and reed beds. [Circus aeruginosus and related species.] …   English new terms dictionary Northern Harrier — Hen Harrier Adult female, American subspecies Conservation status …   Wikipedia Western Marsh Harrier — Adult male (front), juvenile (behind) and adult female (back) Conservation status …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”