From Opus

Photo by Sussex bird man
Laguna Nimez, Calafate, Argentina, November 2005

Circus cinereus

[edit] Identification

Male - 40cm

• Dark grey upperparts
• White rump
• Pale grey underparts
• Rufous streaked belly
• Black wing tips
  

Female - 50cm

• Brown upperparts
• White rump
• Cream underparts
• Streaked belly

[edit] Distribution

South America. Breeds from Colombia and Peru south through Chile, Paraguay, south-eastern Brazil, Uruguay and much of Argentina to Tierra del Fuego. A partial-migrant in south of range.

Rare visitor and probable former breeder in the Falkland Islands.

[edit] Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species^[1], which is treated as a race of Hen Harrier C. cyaneus by some authors.

[edit] Habitat

Found in marshes and open grasslands, maximum 4500m.

[edit] Behaviour

[edit] Breeding

It is a ground nester.

[edit] Diet

The diet includes small rodents, birds, reptiles, amphibians and insects.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Wikipedia

• List of references

[edit] External Links