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![\"northern](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-9466-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern")
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All sexes and ages have the unique facial disc (ruff) characteristic of harriers.\u00a0\u00a0 It’s not as prominent as it is in many owls but it can\u00a0clearly be seen in this image.\u00a0 Its function is the same as it is in owls – to\u00a0direct sound to the ears.\u00a0 Most hawks hunt almost exclusively by sight but because of their excellent hearing, thanks largely to the facial disc, harriers depend at least as much on sound to locate their prey as they do on sight.\u00a0 In fact, they can detect prey by sound alone, with no visual cues.<\/p>\n
This bird is a juvenile (rufous below) male (eye color).<\/p>\n
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![\"northern](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-1749-ron-dudley1.jpg\" "\\"northern")
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So, this is the adult\u00a0male – the striking “Gray Ghost, as he’s so often called, hunting.\u00a0\u00a0 Interestingly, males and females tend to hunt in differing habitats – males preferring more open habitats while females\u00a0more often hunt in areas with denser, taller vegetation.\u00a0 There seems to be three reasons for this distinction:<\/p>\n
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- males hunt\u00a0small birds more than females do<\/li>\n
- females have smaller home ranges than males and\u00a0for much of the year their range is close to the nest (the nest is usually in dense vegetation)<\/li>\n
- females vigorously\u00a0and aggressively exclude males from their hunting habitats during winter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Side note:\u00a0 This little behavioral quirk is something bird photographers should keep in the back of their minds.\u00a0 For many, the adult\u00a0male harrier is an extremely elusive photographic quarry, so if the male is what you’re after it might be\u00a0prudent to concentrate your efforts on habitats where the male is more likely to be hunting – more open, with short vegetation that is less dense,\u00a0as in the photo above<\/p>\n
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![\"northern-harrier-0834](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-0834-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-harrier-0834")
<\/p>\nFemales hunt habitats like this tall, dense stand of Phragmites more often than do males.\u00a0\u00a0 These plants are often over 6′ tall and grow quite close together.\u00a0 This bird is a juvenile female (rufous breast and chocolate-brown eyes).<\/p>\n
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![\"northern](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-1811-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern")
<\/p>\nWhen harriers are hunting they typically fly low\u00a0and buoyantly over the ground or vegetation.\u00a0 They look and listen very carefully and often their flight speed is quite slow, so to stay aloft at those times they do more flapping than gliding\u00a0and they typically have their tail spread and their legs hanging down.<\/p>\n
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![\"northern](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-4505-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern")
<\/p>\nBut when they locate prey (usually a vole), which is\u00a0only several feet below them as they’re flying by, their reaction must be lightening quick before the prey, which has most likely seen them too, escapes down its hole or tunnel.\u00a0\u00a0 It’s a blast to watch these birds turn on\u00a0a dime in a microsecond as they dive down after the prey.<\/p>\n
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![\"northern](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-2267-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern")
<\/p>\nOften their posture as they twist for the dive is so convoluted and twisted as to be almost comical.\u00a0 And it all happens so fast <\/em>!<\/p>\n
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![\"northern](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-9834-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern")
<\/p>\nThis harrier was so close to the ground when it spotted (or heard) prey that its right wing tip\u00a0hit the snowy ground as it maneuvered for the pounce.<\/p>\n
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![\"northern](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-9858-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern")
<\/p>\nThis female detected prey at the base of these thick, 4′ tall “weeds” as she passed by.\u00a0\u00a0 She quickly turned in the air to pounce but couldn’t get through the weeds, though she was very persistent in trying for perhaps a full minute.<\/p>\n
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![\"northern](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-9868-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern")
<\/p>\nTwice she actually dove head first into the mass of stems, trying to get through the plants to the probable vole on the ground (it could have been a small bird using the thickness of the weeds for cover).\u00a0 But after all that effort she came up empty-taloned and eventually flew off to try her luck elsewhere.<\/p>\n
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![\"northern-harrier-3139](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-3139-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-harrier-3139")
<\/p>\nI was amazed by the behavior I saw from this juvenile female.\u00a0 As she flew over these previously snow-packed, very dense weeds she obviously heard a vole down there.\u00a0 But she couldn’t get to it.\u00a0 She landed on top\u00a0a few times, cocked her head as she pinpointed the direction of the sound she was hearing, and repeatedly pounced but failed at catching the vole.\u00a0\u00a0 Then she actually started clearing the brush away.<\/p>\n
Here, she’s grabbed one of the twigs, lifted into the air a few inches\u00a0with it and deposited it\u00a0to her left.\u00a0 She did this several times.<\/p>\n
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![\"northern-harrier-3169](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-3169-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-harrier-3169")
<\/p>\nThen she reached down through the twigs to grab this half buried and wet, partly rotted piece of wood (I didn’t even know it was there), lifted it into the air and dropped about a foot away.\u00a0 I suspect it was an entire nest of voles she was after because she certainly was willing to invest a lot of effort\u00a0in getting to it.<\/p>\n
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![\"northern-harrier-3181](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-3181-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-harrier-3181")
<\/p>\nThen she, once again, repeatedly pounced on the spot.\u00a0 I’m sorry to report that she never did come up with any voles.<\/p>\n
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![\"northern-harrier-4340](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-4340-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-harrier-4340")
<\/p>\nScavenging is also a type of “hunting” that harriers rely on, especially in winter.\u00a0 Severe conditions produce dead bodies and most of them are a potential meal for a hungry harrier.\u00a0 This bird has just landed on a duck carcass frozen into the ice.<\/p>\n
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![\"northern-harrier-8397](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-8397-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-harrier-8397")
<\/p>\nThey also scavenge fish, like this carp on the ice that has been fed upon for hours by multiple harriers.\u00a0 Aggressive interactions and food stealing become commonplace during cold winters when food is at a premium.\u00a0 Often, the fighting is fierce.<\/p>\n
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![\"northern-harrier-8857](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-8857-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-harrier-8857")
<\/p>\nMultiple harriers compete for a Mallard frozen into the ice.<\/p>\n
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![\"northern-harrier-9141](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-9141-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern-harrier-9141")
<\/p>\nI clipped some wings here, but as you can see the action was fast and furious.<\/p>\n
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![\"northern](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-1004-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern")
<\/p>\nOccasionally, when one harrier is on the ground and surrounded by relatively high vegetation, another one will come along while hunting\u00a0and neither one will be aware of the other’s presence until the very last second.\u00a0\u00a0 When they see each other, it’s a surprise for both of them and they react instinctively.\u00a0 Females\u00a0average 50% heavier than males and\u00a0they win virtually all aggressive interactions between the sexes so normally males avoid seriously\u00a0tangling with them\u00a0when they can.<\/p>\n
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![\"northern](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-30075-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern")
<\/p>\nHarriers aren’t happy campers when another harrier invades their hunting territory.\u00a0 This male is screaming and displaying to another male flying into the area.<\/p>\n
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![\"northern](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-6720-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern")
<\/p>\nIn my experience, harriers normally eat their\u00a0meal on the ground where it was caught.\u00a0 But this image was taken in May, so I suspect this male is\u00a0delivering the meal to the nest.\u00a0 This is one of the few flight shots I have of a harrier with prey.<\/p>\n
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![\"northern](\"http:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/northern-harrier-66459-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"northern")
<\/p>\nWell, this is what it’s all about, isn’t it?\u00a0\u00a0Finally, a\u00a0meal.\u00a0 Calories!\u00a0 A salve for that gnawing in the stomach.\u00a0\u00a0 Harriers sometimes eat their\u00a0voles piecemeal, sometimes only eviscerate them first and other times swallow them whole.\u00a0 This male decided to go for the gusto.<\/p>\n
I adore harriers.\u00a0 They get me through the winter…<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
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Notes:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
- \n
- I’ve used Birds of North America Online<\/em> as a source for some of the natural history information I’ve presented here.<\/li>\n
- I’ve posted a few of these images previously<\/li>\n
- I do not bait.\u00a0 But it should be noted that the fish (carp) in one of these images was one that had been killed by humans at a refuge as a means of controlling the damage they do to submergent vegetation needed for waterfowl<\/li>\n
- Occasionally I still struggle with telling the difference between juvenile males and females and adult females, especially when the juvies are in transition.\u00a0 If I’ve made any errors here, please point them out<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It’s getting to be what I call “harrier time” here in northern Utah so I thought I’d do a significant post on the species.\u00a0 For me, watching these birds hunt is\u00a0absolutely mesmerizing and I could do it for hours.\u00a0 And I have – many, many times. But before I get into hunting I’d like to cover some basics on telling the sexes and ages apart.\u00a0 Sexual dimorphism in harriers is exceptional\u00a0among birds of prey – telling adult males from adult females is easy\u00a0because their colors are so dramatically different.\u00a0 But because juveniles of either sex strongly\u00a0resemble adult females, that distinction becomes very tricky and causes a lot of confusion.\u00a0 So, here’s a primer: Adult males – gray above, mostly white below, black wing tips, lemon-yellow eyes Adult females – brown above, buffy with\u00a0 brown streaks below, lemon-yellow eyes (but in my experience, the eyes of adult females\u00a0tend to be\u00a0less bright than those of adult males) Juvenile of both sexes – similar to adult female but darker chocolate-brown above and strongly rufous (reddish)\u00a0below Juvenile male – pale, greenish-yellow eyes Juvenile female – dark, chocolate-brown eyes All sexes and ages have the unique facial disc (ruff) characteristic of harriers.\u00a0\u00a0 It’s not as prominent as it is in many owls but it can\u00a0clearly be seen in this image.\u00a0 Its function is the same as it is in owls – to\u00a0direct sound to the ears.\u00a0 Most hawks hunt almost exclusively by sight but because of their excellent hearing, thanks largely to the facial disc, harriers depend at least…<\/p>\n
- I’ve used Birds of North America Online<\/em> as a source for some of the natural history information I’ve presented here.<\/li>\n