Hen Harrier
Circus cyaneus
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderAccipitriformes (Hawks, Eagles, Kites, and Allies)
- FamilyAccipitridae (Hawks, Eagles, and Kites)
- GenusCircus (Harriers)
- SpeciesCircus cyaneus (Hen Harrier)
About the Hen Harrier
The hen harrier (Circus cyaneus) is a bird of prey. It breeds in open areas such as marshes and grasslands in Eurasia and is migratory, moving further south outside of the breeding season. Birds in milder regions, such as France and Great Britain, may be resident year-round, but the higher altitudes are largely deserted in winter. The species is sexually dimorphic; males are smaller and mostly grey and white with black wingtips, whereas females average larger and are predominantly brown and have buff underparts with brown barring. Both sexes have a white rump patch, although it is more noticeable on females and juveniles.
The term "hen harrier" refers to its former habit of preying on free-ranging fowl. The northern harrier (Circus hudsonius) was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the hen harrier. In 1758 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the hen harrier in the first volume of his Gleanings of Natural History. He used the English name "The blue hawk". Edwards based his hand-coloured etching on a bird that had been shot near London. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for... Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Saguaro National Park
Red-tailed Hawk
Buteo jamaicensis
Bald Eagle
Haliaeetus leucocephalus
Harris' Hawk
Parabuteo unicinctus
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Accipiter striatus
Red-shouldered Hawk
Buteo lineatus
White-tailed Kite
Elanus leucurus
Gray-lined Hawk
Buteo nitidus
Zone-tailed Hawk
Buteo albonotatus
Swainson's Hawk
Buteo swainsoni
Common Black-Hawk
Buteogallus anthracinus
Golden Eagle
Aquila chrysaetos
Broad-winged Hawk
Buteo platypterus
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Hen Harrier in Saguaro National Park?
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Hen Harrier sighting in Saguaro National Park, based on 1,391 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Hen Harrier in Saguaro National Park?
December has the highest sighting rate for Hen Harrier in Saguaro National Park in our monthly data.