Circus pygargus
Montagu's Harrier is a medium-sized, slender raptor renowned for its graceful, buoyant flight over open landscapes. Males measure 39-50 cm in length with a wingspan of 99-120 cm and weigh 225-300g, displaying an elegant ash-grey plumage with distinctive black wingtips and a single black bar on the underwing, often with rufous streaking on the flanks. Females are slightly larger (43-55 cm, 115-135 cm wingspan, 320-500g), exhibiting brownish upperparts, heavily barred underparts, and a prominen...
Primarily inhabits open grasslands, steppes, heathlands, and extensive agricultural fields (e.g., cereals, oilseed rape). It is typically found in lowlands, occasionally up to 1500m in suitable open habitats.
Feeds predominantly on small mammals (voles, mice), small birds and their chicks, large insects (locusts, crickets), and occasionally reptiles and amphibians. It forages by quartering low over vegetation.
Montagu's Harriers are diurnal, actively hunting from dawn until dusk, and outside the breeding season, they often form communal roosts in dense ground vegetation. Their distinctive foraging technique involves a low-level, quartering flight over fields, periodically hovering before dropping swift...
Montagu's Harrier breeds across a wide expanse from Western Europe eastward through Russia and parts of Western Asia, with key populations in countries like Spain, France, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, and the European portion of Russia. An isolated breeding population also exists in Morocco. During ...
Near Threatened
- Known for its spectacular aerial courtship display, often called 'sky-dancing,' involving acrobatic dives and tumbles. - It is one of the few raptors that frequently nests directly on the ground, often choosing active agricultural fields like cereal crops. - Males can be polygynous, sometimes m...