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428:, it is monogamous and remains on the breeding territory for most of the year. In the southern Cape, birds leave for a few months post-breeding, returning in May–June. The nest is usually built in a reedbed, sometimes well above the water and two to four white eggs are laid from July to November. All eggs start out with a blue wash allowing newly laid eggs to be identified.
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pale streakings on the head, breast, forewing and rufous on the thighs and the belly. Adult males differ from females in that they have a pale grey wash to the dorsal secondaries and primaries. The female's are brown. The juvenile is dark brown and may have a pale breastband and pale markings on the head. The tail and
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The
African marsh harrier does not form communal roosts, unlike other harriers and normally roosts solitarily. It leaves the roost early in the morning and then flies slowly over the ground. It hunts in typical harrier fashion, usually less than 10 metres above the ground, over wetlands and adjacent
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African Marsh harrier females are larger than males and they are 44–47 centimetres (17–19 in) in length, with females being about 30% heavier than males (Simmons and
Simmons 2000). Adults, (like the male bird right) have yellow eyes, but brown eyes when immature. Both sexes are mostly brown with
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African marsh harriers are reported to be common at many wetland sites in both eastern and southern Africa, especially in Uganda, Botswana and Zambia. In South Africa, an estimated 3,000-6,000 pairs remain, but some populations are declining and the species is regarded as regionally endangered.
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Outside South Africa there are still large areas of suitable habitat, e.g. the
Okavango Delta in Botswana and over much of Zambia, and the species is still locally common . The population is preliminarily estimated to number between 10,000–100,000 individuals.
638:
Simmons R.E. (1997) African Marsh
Harrier In: Atlas of Southern African birds Vol 1. Non-passerines. (Eds James Harrison, David Allan, Les Underhill, Marc Herremans, Vincent Parker, Chris Brown) Avian Demography Unit University of Cape
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or reedbeds in east Africa and hunts over open grasslands and cultivation near wetlands. Found from sea level up to 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), it predominantly occurs above 1,500 metres (4,900 ft).
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The
African marsh harrier has a varied diet which includes small mammals (70% of items) and adult birds, fledglings, lizards, frogs and large insects. It can sometimes consume birds up to the size of the
406:. African marsh harriers are not found in areas with less than 300 millimetres (12 in) in annual rainfall as wetlands are sparse in regions with less rainfall, its main prey in southern Africa, the
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Tarboton W.R. Allan D. (1984) The status and conservation of birds of prey of the
Transvaal. Tvl Mus Monographs No. 4. Pretoria South Africa.
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Populations are declining due to drainage and damming of wetland habitats, over-grazing and human disturbance and, possibly,
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It is usually silent but the male has a high-pitched, two-note display call, and only the female has the far-carrying
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Simmons R.E. Simmons J.R. (2000). Harriers of the world: their behaviour and ecology. Oxford
University Press, UK
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The
African Marsh harrier is mainly resident in the moister regions of southern and eastern Africa, from the
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285:, but the African marsh harrier can be readily distinguished from them by its lack of a white rump.
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417:. It will also feed on larger animals such as flamingo carrion left by, for example,
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have dark barring at all ages, but this is rarely visible in the juvenile birds.
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but is slimmer and paler brown. It could be mistaken for an immature
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Brown, Leslle H..; Urban, Emil K.; Newman, Kenneth (1982).
586:"2015 Checklist of Birds – List of Threatened Species"
402:. A favoured prey in some areas are doves, especially
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Species text in The Atlas of
Southern African Birds
369:, another in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo,
526:Ferguson-Lees, James; Christie, David A. (2001).
479:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22695352A93504602.en
473:. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016.
300:The African marsh harrier is generally found in
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292:food and copulation call during breeding.
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631:Ian Sinclair & Peter Ryan (2003)
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971:Birds of prey of Sub-Saharan Africa
961:IUCN Red List least concern species
633:Birds of Africa south of the Sahara
564:Southern African Bird Atlas Project
25:
469:BirdLife International. (2016).
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413:, is also restricted to this
367:Democratic Republic of Congo
317:northwards through eastern
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81:Scientific classification
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655:African marsh harrier –
503:Birds of Africa Volume I
976:Birds described in 1800
557:"African Marsh Harrier"
381:, far north Uganda and
258:African marsh harrier,
345:, western and central
275:Eurasian marsh harrier
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35:African marsh harrier
907:Paleobiology Database
273:It resembles a small
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218:African marsh harrier
18:African Marsh Harrier
635:, Struik, Cape Town.
624:Roger Clarke (1995)
530:. Christopher Helm.
528:Raptors of the World
361:, and north eastern
357:, especially in the
333:, south and western
593:birdingecotours.com
446:pesticide poisoning
419:African fish eagles
51:Conservation status
505:. Academic Press.
389:Habits and ecology
373:and south eastern
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948:
947:
894:Open Tree of Life
668:Taxon identifiers
628:, Hamlyn, London.
626:The Marsh Harrier
602:on 2 January 2018
411:Rhabdomys pumilio
279:Montagu's harrier
230:belonging to the
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172:C. ranivorus
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16:(Redirected from
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966:Harriers (birds)
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938:Circus-ranivorus
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604:. Retrieved
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436:Conservation
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424:Unlike many
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319:South Africa
315:Western Cape
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309:Distribution
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148:Accipitridae
29:
816:iNaturalist
700:Wikispecies
383:South Sudan
250:Description
244:South Sudan
955:Categories
933:Xeno-canto
452:References
335:Mozambique
329:, eastern
242:north to
166:Species:
104:Kingdom:
98:Eukaryota
920:Species+
860:22695352
834:10215542
746:22695352
741:BirdLife
685:Wikidata
426:harriers
398:and the
355:Botswana
343:Tanzania
331:Zimbabwe
327:Eswatini
144:Family:
118:Chordata
114:Phylum:
108:Animalia
94:Domain:
71:IUCN 3.1
808:5229173
795:1047919
782:afmhar1
756:afmhar1
728:Avibase
569:17 July
415:isohyet
363:Namibia
323:Lesotho
302:marshes
296:Habitat
232:harrier
226:) is a
200:, 1800)
154:Genus:
134:Order:
124:Class:
69: (
912:420474
899:624765
873:321096
847:559300
691:Q17556
606:8 July
584:BLSA.
534:
509:
375:Uganda
371:Rwanda
351:Angola
347:Zambia
339:Malawi
236:Circus
234:genus
198:Daudin
159:Circus
886:73180
829:IRMNG
777:eBird
753:BOW:
639:Town.
600:(PDF)
589:(PDF)
560:(PDF)
379:Kenya
925:4628
868:NCBI
855:IUCN
842:ITIS
821:5165
803:GBIF
769:VG88
608:2017
571:2016
532:ISBN
507:ISBN
216:The
128:Aves
790:EoL
764:CoL
715:ADW
475:doi
281:or
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
