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Revision as of 20:37, 12 February 2017
Alternative name: Australian Harrier
- Circus approximans
Identification
50-60cm. Dark brown, becoming lighter with age, white rump. Females larger than males.
Distribution
Australasia. Breeds in southern New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand and on many Pacific islands including the Society Islands, Tonga, the Fiji 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.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species
Pacific Marsh Harrier (Swamp Harrier) is treated as a race of Western Marsh-Harrier C. aeroginosus by some authors
Habitat
Open country, crops, paddyfields and swamps.
Behaviour
The diet includes ground birds and waterbirds, rabbits and other small mammals, reptiles, frogs and fish and carrion.
It nests on the ground, often in swamps, on a mound in reeds or other dense vegetation. 3-4 eggs are laid and are incubated for about 33 days, with chicks fledging about 45 days after hatching.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2016. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2016, with updates to August 2016. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Swamp Harrier. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 26 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Swamp_Harrier
