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SPOTTED HARRIER FACTS |
Description
The Spotted Harrier is blue grey above with scalloped lighter markings, the underside is bright reddish brown with small white spots. The tail is barred black and grey. The head has a reddish brown face disc. The trailing edge of the wings and wing tips are black which can be seen easily when bird is in flight. Females are larger than males and grow to about 61 cm long. Juvenile birds are brown with buff underside streaked with darker brown.
Other Names
Spotted Swamp-hawk
Size
57 cm
Habitat
open woodland, shrubland and open grassland throughout Australia.
Food
birds, insects, reptiles, small mammals
Breeding
The nest is made of twigs lined with leaves built in a tree
Range
The Swamp Harrier is found in all states of Australia in areas with suitable habitat including arid and semi-arid areas.
Credits:
Map is from Atlas of Living Australia website at https://biocache.ala.org.au licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Classification
| Class: | Aves | | Order: | Falconiformes | | Family: | Accipitridae | | Genus: | Circus | | Species: | assimilis | | Common Name: | Spotted Harrier |
Relatives in same Genus
Swamp Harrier (C. approximans)
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