Northern Harrier – Ross Feldner For most of my “birding career” this bird was called a Marsh Hawk. This seemed to make sense as it was a hawk and it preferred marshy areas. But in 1982 the American Ornithologists Union (A.O.U.) decided to change the name officially to Northern Harrier to eliminate the confusion of its common name. These harriers can be seen all across the United States and have adapted so well to wetland and marshes that they make their nests on the ground. Unlike most “hawks” they prefer to stand on the ground instead of landing on high structures like telephone poles and trees. They hunt mostly small mammals, snakes and small birds usually with a hovering tactic by slowly flying just above a field, dune or marsh and listening for prey much like owls. | |
