Black Harrier

Circus maurus

A striking, mostly dark harrier with large white panels in the underwings, a white rump, and bands on the tail. The juvenile is brown with white flashes in the underwings and has a heavily-streaked chest. It quarters low over heath-like fynbos, semi-desert Karoo, and dune brush hunting for small birds and mammals. Regularly disperses irruptively north into grasslands and steppe from January to July.

Taxonomy

Scientific name
Circus maurus
Authority
(Temminck, 1828)
Order
Accipitriformes
Family
Accipitridae
Genus
Circus

Range and habitat

Migration
Complete migrants

Conservation

Population trend
declining

Photos

Distribution

Bird Calls

Start Your Bird Watching Journey

Identify a bird outdoors and keep the field guide close for your next observation.