Northern Harrier:
Harrier is an English name derived from the Old English word "hergian", meaning "to harrass by hostile attacks" or simply to harass, ravage, or plunder. The scientific name - Circus cyaneus - is derived from the Greek work "kirkos" meaning "circle", (referring to the Harrier's habit of flying in circles) and the word "cyan", meaning "blue", alluding to the color of the Harrier male.
In the United States the Harrier was called the "Marsh Hawk" until the 1970s when the AOU revised the name "Marsh Hawk", stating the bird was found in more environments than just marshes. The "Marsh Hawk" became the "Northern Harrier". In England the Harrier is often called the "Hen Harrier".
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"... I observe no difference between the Hawk of this Coast and those of the Atlantic. I have observed the large brown Hawk
[most likely the Red-tailed Hawk], the Small or Sparrow hawk
[American Kestrel], and a hawk of an intermediate Size with a long tail and blewish coloured wings, remarkably Swift in flight and very ferce. Sometimes called in the Un. States the hen Hawk [Northern Harrier].
those birds Seam to be common to every part of this Country in greater or smaller numbers, and the Hawks, Crows, and ravins build their nests is great numbers along the high & inaxcessable clifts of the Columbia, and Lewis's rivers when we passd along them. ..."
[Captain William Clark, March 3, 1806, while at Fort Clatsop]
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Left image, Northern Harrier, male, Steigerwald Lake NWR, Washington.
Right image, female, Sauvie Island, Oregon.
Left image taken October 12, 2009, Canon Rebel XTi, 300z.
Right image taken February 23, 2008, Sony A100, 500mm, from Reeder Road Bird Blind.
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Steigerwald Lake NWR, Washington ...
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Northern Harrier, Steigerwald Lake NWR, Washington.
Image taken February 1, 2010.
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Conboy Lake NWR, Washington ...
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Northern Harrier, male, Conboy Lake NWR, Washington.
Image taken June 5, 2010.
Canon Rebel T1i, 300mm.
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Shillapoo Wildlife Area, Vancouver, Washington ...
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Northern Harrier, Shillapoo Wildlife Area, Vancouver, Washington.
Left image taken November 26, 2008.
Right image taken January 3, 2010.
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Northern Harrier, female, Shillapoo Wildlife Area, Vancouver, Washington.
Image taken December 11, 2009.
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Northern Harrier, female, Shillapoo Wildlife Area, Vancouver, Washington.
Image taken December 11, 2009.
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Ridgefield NWR, Washington ...
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Northern Harrier.
Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, Washington, River "S" Unit.
Images taken January 6, 2009.
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Sauvie Island, Oregon ...
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Northern Harrier, Sauvie Island, Oregon.
View from Reeder Road bird blind.
Image taken February 23, 2008.
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Northern Harrier, Sauvie Island, Oregon.
View from Reeder Road bird blind.
Image taken February 21, 2009.
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