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Harrier (bird)

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Circus
Western marsh harrier
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Accipitriformes
Family: Accipitridae
Subfamily: Accipitrinae
Genus: Circus
Lacépède, 1799
Type species
Falco aeruginosus
Linnaeus, 1758
Species

See text

A harrier is a member of the genus Circus in Accipitridae, a family of birds of prey. Harriers characteristically hunt by flying low over open ground, feeding on small mammals, reptiles, or birds. The young of the species are sometimes referred to as ring-tail harriers. They are distinctive with long wings, a long narrow tail, the slow and low flight over grasslands and skull peculiarities. The harriers are thought to have diversified with the expansion of grasslands and the emergence of C4 grasses about 6 to 8 million years ago during the Late Miocene and Pliocene.[1]

Taxonomy

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Northern harrier, adult male

The genus Circus was introduced by the French naturalist Bernard Germain de Lacépède in 1799.[2] The type species was subsequently designated as the western marsh harrier.[3][4] Most harriers are placed in this genus. The word Circus comes from the Ancient Greek κρέξ (kréx) referring to a long legged bird, and is possibly ultimately derived from an onomatopoeia.[5] The name harrier is thought to have been derived either from Harrier (dog), or by a corruption of harrower, or directly from harry.[6]

The genera Circus has in the past been placed in the subfamily Circinae but molecular phylogenetic studies have shown that such a grouping is polyphyletic for Accipitrinae.[7][8] The harrier-hawks in the genus Polyboroides are not closely related and are placed in their own subfamily Polyboroidinae[8]

Ring-tails

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Ring-tail is an informal term used by birders for the juveniles and females of several harrier species when seen in the field and not identifiable to an exact species.[9] Ring-tail harriers include the juveniles and females of Montagu's harrier (Circus pygargus), hen harrier (Circus cyaneus), and pallid harrier (Circus macrourus).

A male Montagu's harrier displays the signature upswept wings and grassland habitat.

Species

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The genus contains 16 species:[10]

Genus Circus – Lacépède, 1799 – sixteen species
Common name Scientific name and subspecies Range Size and ecology IUCN status and estimated population
Montagu's harrier

Circus pygargus
(Linnaeus, 1758) 		Eurasia, winters in Africa and India
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Hen harrier

Circus cyaneus
(Linnaeus, 1766) 		Eurasia
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Northern harrier

Circus hudsonius
(Linnaeus, 1766) 		North America[11]
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Western marsh harrier

Circus aeruginosus
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Two subspecies
  • C. a. aeruginosus (Linnaeus, 1758)
  • C. a. harterti Zedlitz, 1914
Europe, western Asia; winter range includes Africa and India.
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Eastern marsh harrier

Circus spilonotus
Kaup, 1847 		Asia (migratory) Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


African marsh harrier

Circus ranivorus
(Daudin, 1800) 		southern and central Africa
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Swamp harrier

Circus approximans
(Peale, 1849) 		New Zealand, Australia, Pacific islands Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Papuan harrier


Circus spilothorax
(Salvadori & D'Albertis, 1875) 		New Guinea
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Malagasy harrier


Circus macrosceles
(Newton, 1863) 		Indian Ocean (Madagascar and the Comoro Islands) Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 EN 


Réunion harrier

Circus maillardi
J. Verreaux, 1862 		(Indian Ocean) Réunion Island
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 EN 


Long-winged harrier

Circus buffoni
(Gmelin, JF, 1788) 		South America
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Spotted harrier

Circus assimilis
(Jardine & Selby, 1828) 		Australia, Indonesia
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Black harrier

Circus maurus
(Temminck, 1828) 		southern Africa
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 EN 


Cinereous harrier

Circus cinereus
Vieillot, 1816 		South America
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Pallid harrier

Circus macrourus
(S. G. Gmelin, 1770) 		migratory: eastern Europe, Asia, Africa (winter)
Map of range 		Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 


Pied harrier

Circus melanoleucos
(Pennant, 1769) 		Asia Size:

Habitat:

Diet: 		 LC 




Fossils

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References

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  1. ^ Oatley, Graeme; Simmons, Robert E.; Fuchs, Jérôme (2015). "A molecular phylogeny of the harriers (Circus, Accipitridae) indicate the role of long distance dispersal and migration in diversification". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 85: 150–60. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2015.01.013. PMID 25701771.
  2. ^ Lacépède, Bernard Germain de (1799). "Tableau des sous-classes, divisions, sous-division, ordres et genres des oiseux". Discours d'ouverture et de clôture du cours d'histoire naturelle (in French). Paris: Plassan. p. 4. Page numbering starts at one for each of the three sections.
  3. ^ Mayr, Ernst; Cottrell, G. William, eds. (1979). Check-list of Birds of the World. Volume 1 (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 316.
  4. ^ Lesson, René P. (1828). Manuel d'ornithologie, ou Description des genres et des principales espèces d'oiseaux (in French). Vol. 1. Paris: Roret. p. 105.
  5. ^ Beekes, Robert (2010). Etymological Dictionary of Greek. pp. 702, 776. ISBN 9789004174207.
  6. ^ Hogg, John (1845). "A catalogue of birds observed in South-eastern Durham and in North-western Cleveland". The Zoologist. 3: 1049–1063.
  7. ^ Mindell, D.; Fuchs, J.; Johnson, J. (2018). "Phylogeny, taxonomy, and geographic diversity of diurnal raptors: Falconiformes, Accipitriformes, and Cathartiformes". In Sarasola, J.H.; Grange, J.M.; Negro, J.J. (eds.). Birds of Prey: Biology and conservation in the XXI century. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. pp. 3–32. ISBN 978-3-319-73744-7.
  8. ^ a b Catanach, T.A.; Halley, M.R.; Pirro, S. (2024). "Enigmas no longer: using ultraconserved elements to place several unusual hawk taxa and address the non-monophyly of the genus Accipiter (Accipitriformes: Accipitridae)". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society: blae028. doi:10.1093/biolinnean/blae028.
  9. ^ "Harriers in India: A Field Guide" (PDF). wwt.org.uk. Wetland Link International. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  10. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2022). "Hoatzin, New World vultures, Secretarybird, raptors". IOC World Bird List Version 12.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  11. ^ Etherington, Graham J.; Mobley, Jason A. (2016). "Molecular phylogeny, morphology and life-history comparisons within Circus cyaneus reveal the presence of two distinct evolutionary lineages". Avian Research. 7. doi:10.1186/s40657-016-0052-3.
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