marsh harrier

A hawk found throughout the Old World (Circus aeruginosus); brown body, paler head, and grey tail; inhabits marshland (sometimes grassland in Australasia); eats frogs and other small animals; nests among reeds; also known as swamp hawk. (Family: Accipitridae.) The birds are known for their spectacular aerial courtship display. On the verge of extinction in the early 1970s, there remained only one nesting pair in the UK, but by 2005, 360 breeding females were recorded in parts of E England, the Cambridgeshire Fens, Kent, Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Scotland.

The marsh harriers are birds of prey of the harrier subfamily.

Most authorities recognise three separate but closely related species: the Western Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus), the Eastern Marsh Harrier (C.