Harrier, Hen

Conservation status:

Rare Passage Migrant

Description:

Smaller, slimmer and slightly narrower-winged than Marsh, with similar flight, but male more buoyant. Male has clear-cut white uppertail-coverts, uniform pale blue-grey upperparts, head and upper breast, rest of under surface white but wing-tip black (both surfaces). 2nd autumn male can show black wedge on wing-rip like male Pallid (as result of primary-moult). Female and juvenile brownish with distinct white uppertail-coverts; streaked underparts whitish or rusty-yellow (warmest in juvenile); banding on secondaries below generally most distinct in female; juvenile has pale line along tips of greater upperwing-coverts. Young birds separated from similar Montagu’s and Pallid by proportionally shorter, broader wings with more ample rounded wing-tip (formed by 4 outermost primaries against 3 in the other two species), less buoyant flight and streaked breast (unstreaked rusty yellow-brown in juveniles of the other two species).