BirdForum

Photo taken: Swan Lake Victoria

Pacific Marsh Harrier (Swamp Harrier) Circus approximans (treated as a race of Marsh Harrier C. aeroginosus by some authors) RANGE Australasia. Breeds in southern New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and on many Pacific islands including the Society Islands, Tonga, the Fijian Islands from Kandavu to the Lau Archipelago, Vanuatu (reported on Aneiteum, Tanna, Erromanga, Efate and Santo), the Loyalty Islands and New Caledonia, Lifu and Uvea. Widespread in Australia, particularly in the north, east and south-east, but also in the south-western corner and can occur throughout most of the country except the more arid regions of the interior. China and in Hokkaido and Honshu in Japan. Also occurs in Tasmania where a summer visitor. In New Zealand breeds on North and South Islands and a straggler south to the Auckland and Campbell Islands. HABITAT Open country, crops, paddyfields and swamps.