Western marsh harrier
The western marsh harrier is often divided into two subspecies, the widely migratory C. a. aeruginosus which is found across most of its range, and C. a. harterti which is resident all-year in north-west Africa.The western marsh harrier was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Falco aeruginosus.[11] In the Middle East there are populations in Turkey, Iraq, and Iran, while in Central Asia the range extends eastwards as far as north-west China, Mongolia, and the Lake Baikal region of Siberia.The first documented (but unconfirmed) record for the Americas was one bird reportedly photographed on 4 December 1994 at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Accomack County, Virginia.Subsequently, there were confirmed records from Guadeloupe (winter of 2002/2003), from Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife Refuge in Puerto Rico (early 2004 and January/February 2006)[12][13][14] and in Bermuda (December 2015).[16] But this is probably simply due to habitat preferences, as the marsh harriers are completely allopatric while several of C. aeruginosus grassland and steppe relatives winter in the same regions and assemble at food sources such as locust outbreaks.Still, in Keoladeo National Park of Rajasthan (India) around 100 Eurasian marsh harriers are observed to roost together each November/December; they assemble in tall grassland dominated by Desmostachya bipinnata and vetiver (Chrysopogon zizanioides), but where this is too disturbed by human activity they will use floating carpets of common water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) instead – the choice of such roost sites may be to give early warning of predators, which will conspicuously rustle through the plants if they try to sneak upon the resting birds[17] The start of the breeding season varies from mid-March to early May.[18] It hunts in typical harrier fashion, gliding low over flat open ground on its search for prey, with its wings held in a shallow V-shape and often with dangling legs.
Conservation statusLeast ConcernIUCN 3.1Scientific classificationEukaryotaAnimaliaChordataAccipitriformesAccipitridaeCircusBinomial nameLinnaeusZedlitzSynonymsharrierbird of preytemperatesubtropicalEurasiaAfricamarsh harriereastern marsh harrierPapuan harrierWallaceaswamp harrierAustralasiaMadagascar marsh harrierIndian Oceansubspeciesmigratoryformally describedCarl Linnaeustenth editionSystema NaturaelocalityBernard Germain de LacépèdeAncient Greekhen harrierremigesFaridabad districtHaryanasexually dimorphicplumagecrypticrectricesirideshypermelanicsubarcticScandinaviaGreat BritainTurkeyMongoliaLake BaikalSiberiaGreat LakesArabiaIndian subcontinentMyanmarMoroccoAlgeriaTunisiaVagrantsIcelandAzoresMalaysiaSumatraChincoteague National Wildlife RefugeAccomack County, VirginiaGuadeloupeLaguna Cartagena National Wildlife RefugePuerto RicoBermudawetlandcommon reedfarmlandgrasslandterritorialhabitatallopatricsteppelocustKeoladeo National ParkRajasthanDesmostachya bipinnatavetivercommon water hyacinthMuseum Wiesbaden, GermanyPair bondsreedbedarableclutchfledgeKolkataWest BengalEstoniahabitat destructionpesticideHorsey, NorfolkRare Breeding Birds PanelIrelandMediterraneanlead shotIUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesLinnaeus, CarlMayr, ErnstLacépède, Bernard Germain deGill, FrankRasmussen, PamelaA & C BlackAmerican Ornithologists' UnionRasmussen, Pamela C.ForktailCramp, StanleyWikispeciesInternet Bird CollectionXeno-cantoWikidataAvibaseBirdLifeEURINGFauna EuropaeaFauna Europaea (new)iNaturalistObservation.orgOpen Tree of LifePaleobiology Database