Circus macrourus
The Pallid Harrier, *Circus macrourus*, is a graceful medium-sized raptor notable for its buoyant, low-level flight over open grasslands. Males are strikingly pale, with a silvery-grey plumage above, white underparts, and distinct black wedge-shaped wingtips, earning them the moniker 'ghost of the steppes.' Females and juveniles are much browner, often described as 'hooded' due to their dark brown cap and ear coverts contrasting with a paler collar and streaked underparts, making them harder ...
Found primarily in open grasslands, steppes, semi-deserts, fallow fields, and extensive agricultural areas, typically at low to moderate elevations.
Primarily small mammals (voles, mice, shrews), small birds, and large insects (locusts, grasshoppers), caught through low-level quartering flight and sudden pounces.
Pallid Harriers are diurnal hunters, beginning their foraging activities shortly after dawn and roosting communally or solitarily in dense vegetation or reeds at dusk. Their most characteristic behavior is their 'quartering' flight, where they glide low over open ground, often with wings held in ...
The Pallid Harrier breeds across a broad band from Eastern Europe, through Ukraine and Southern Russia, extending eastward across Kazakhstan and parts of Central Asia to northwestern China and Mongolia. The species is a long-distance migrant, undertaking extensive journeys to its wintering ground...
Near Threatened
- The Pallid Harrier holds the record for one of the longest migratory journeys among all harrier species, often traveling thousands of kilometers between breeding and wintering grounds. - Males are famously known as the 'ghost of the steppes' due to their strikingly pale, almost ethereal appeara...