Northern harriers are also called ring-tailed hawks or marsh hawks. They are listed as a threatened species in New York. The best place to see one here in Sullivan County is down in the Bashakill Swamp. Let’s learn a little about these fascinating predators and why we need to protect their habitat.

The wildlife biologists call them Circus hudsonius. That name comes from their circular flight and from the area where they were first discovered up in Canada in Hudson Bay. There are no known subspecies of Northern harriers.

They are described as having a flat face reminiscent of an owl, with a short sharply hooked bill. These harriers are medium sized raptors with broad wings and a long tail. When they soar, they generally do so in a dihedral manner, meaning that their wings are held in a V-shape above their bodies rather than straight out to the side. They have the longest wings and tails relative to their body size of any North American raptor.

Like other types of harriers, the males and females have distinct plumages. The males are more grey and the females are more rufous (reddish). Because Northern harriers are almost always silent, the males have earned the nickname “Grey Ghost”.

Northern harriers hunt by flying in a low zig-zag or circular pattern across open spaces and marshes. They have exceptional hearing due to the owl-like discs on their faces and often locate their prey by sound. Their primary diet consists of small animals and birds although they also eat reptiles and insects. If their prey is very large, such as rabbits or adult ducks, they are known to drown them in water before eating them.

They nest on the ground and are one of only a few raptors that are known to practice polygamy. One male will often mate with several females. The females generally lay between 4 and 8 eggs in a clutch. The eggs are incubated primarily by the female for just over a month. The male hunts and brings food to her and to the chicks after they hatch.

The chicks fledge after about 36 days or so. The large populations of chicks are necessary because of tremendous predation of both eggs and chicks due to nesting on the ground. Northern harriers reach breeding maturity at two years for females and three years for males. Their average life span is 8 years in the wild. The oldest known bird lived to be almost 16 and one-half.

Short-eared owls and Northern harriers like the same habitat and prey and are natural competitors. They are known to harass each other causing prey to get dropped and recovered by the aggressor in a practice that the biologists call kleptoparasitism.

The next time you are out and about, keep your eyes peeled for these fascinating birds. Remember three clues. When flying they soar low with their wings in a V-shape. They have a very distinct profile with a short flat owl-like face with a sharply hooked bill. And they have very long wings and tail feathers.

Let’s all enjoy the outdoors!

John S. Van Etten is the current president of the Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs of Sullivan County, Inc.