Charlie’s Photo of the Week gets “hawkish” and is long-winged!

By Charlie Fineran

Let’s get hawkish this week!

Join me as I write about the Northern Harrier “Marsh Hawk” (Circus cyaneus) with its long wings and long tail. This hawk has a white rump, and a roundish or disk-like face.  These hawks usually are seen gliding unsteadily over fields and marshes with its wings in a shallow V. This week’s photos are probably a female or young hawk as it is brown, males are pale gray. This is the only North American member of a group of hawks known as harriers. All hunt by flying close to the ground and taking small animals surprise. They seldom pursue their prey in the air or watch quietly from a perch as do other birds of prey. Harriers have a keener hearing than other hawks; their disk-shaped faces, not unlike those of owls, enable them to amplify sound. These are not the clearest photos, BUT, they do show the low level flying tactics of the hunt along with the distinctive white rump!  Videos on my Flickr site give a much clearer and more detailed view of the Northern Harrier and its distinct hunting tactics!

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO OF THE WEEK

On Monday, April 5, 2021 I just returned from an auto photo tour.  It is about 5:30 p.m. and I am approaching my home heading down Youngs Island Road in Allamuchy, when I notice a large low flying bird, flying low and erratically over the adjacent field.  I recognized those movements and realized that it is a Northern Harrier!!  It then flies over the road just in front of me and enters that field, continuing in its hunting flight patterns.  I’m scrambling to get my camera ready and decide it would be best to document this by taking several short video clips.  My first video clip was shot through the front windshield and the other two were taken by filming out through my passenger side window, not the greatest or easiest way to photograph an erratically flying hawk!!  BUT, the videos do put emphasis on and show this bird’s unique hunting tactics, flying low and unsteadily, bobbing and weaving over the ground, all the while LOOKING & LISTENING!!  If something is sighted OR heard, there is a quick sudden drop/pounce to the ground!! 

OBSERVATION:  I have to say, the Northern Harrier is one of my favorite birds to photograph!!  A little perspective, FIRST, there actually is a hunting pattern that you can watch and photograph over a period of time!!  The other Hawks, their hunting pattern, is sit on a perch and look for something, then if I or you are lucky, it takes off and glides down to the target!!  The other strategy for hawks/falcons is they are already in flight and are picking out flying targets, or birds flittering around in trees or shrubs.  KINDA hard to see that coming and be ready to photograph that scenario!!  Just thinking aloud here, “‘Kinda’ makes me think, the harrier, actually earns its meal by going out and about LOOKING & LISTENING all the while using energy flying!!??”

TURNING TO THE FACTS

Description – 16 to 24 inches long with a wing span of 3 feet 6 inches.  Northern Harriers are slender, medium-sized raptors with long, fairly broad wings, long rounded tails and a white rump.  They have the longest wings and tails relative to its body size of any raptor in North America.  They have a flat, owl-like face and a small, sharply hooked bill.  Females and young are brown above while the adult male is a palish gray. 

Voice – they are usually silent.  At the nest it can utter a ‘kee-kee-kee-kee’ or sharp whistle.

Habitat – marshes and grasslands

Nesting – 4 to 5 pale blue or white eggs on a mound of dead reeds and grass in a marsh or shrubby meadow.

Range – Breeds from Alaska east to Canadian Maritimes and south to southern California, Arizona, Kansas and Virginia.  Winters from South America north to British Columbia, Great Lakes and New Brunswick.  Also in Eurasia.

NOTE:  This is the only North American member of a group of hawks known as harriers.  All harriers hunt by flying close to the ground and taking small animals by surprise.  Harriers have much better hearing than other hawks, their disk-shaped faces, like those of owls, enable them to amplify sound.

In the wild adult harriers rarely exceed 8 years of age.  Early mortality mainly results from predation.  Predators of eggs and nestlings include, raccoons, skunks, badgers, foxes, crows, ravens, dogs and owls.  Fledglings are also predated regularly especially by Great Horned Owls.  Both parents will attack potential predators with alarm calls and striking with talons.  Short-eared owls are natural competitors of this species that favor the same prey and habitat, as well as having a similarly broad distribution.  Occasionally, both harriers and short-eared owls will harass each other until the victim drops its prey and it can be stolen, a practice known as kleptoparasitism.  Most commonly, the harriers are the aggressors pirating prey from owls.

Please visit my Flickr site for additional photos and videos 

Enjoy Your Open Space

Charlie Fineran  

Director Open Space
Allamuchy Township Environmental Commission – Chairman
Allamuchy Historical Society – President