Montagu’s Harrier (Circus pygargus)

Of the three widespread harriers, this is the one that is lightest and most buoyant on the wing. Slight and angular, it can almost resemble a tern in flight as it floats low over the fields, heathlands or marshy areas where it breeds, hunting by quartering flight as the other harriers do. It is a summer visitor to Europe, inhabiting drier places than the Marsh Harrier and warmer places than the Hen Harrier.

By Hari K Patibanda – A Montagu’s Harrier Female roosting communally, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=110194486

Its agile flight is ideal for catching manoeuvrable prey, and it seems that breeding Montagu’s Harriers tend to concentrate on taking small birds, mostly ground-nesting species such as larks, pipits or Corn Buntings. They evidently ambush many of them as they are sitting, for a good many eggs and nestlings also find their way into the diet. But the Montagu’s Harrier is no specialist; some pairs rely almost entirely on voles, and it is clear that any small ground-living animal that can be caught will be caught.

By Ron Knight from Seaford, East Sussex, United Kingdom – Montagu’s Harrier (Circus pygargus), CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63633457

Montagu’s Harriers breed amongst tall vegetation such as grass, low scrub or reeds; they usually find such sites near water, although arable fields containing crops such as wheat or oil-seed rape are increasingly used. It is not unusual for several pairs to nest together in loose colonies, but cases of polygamy, at least in this species, are rare.

From ‘Birds: A Complete Guide to All British and European Species’, by Dominic Couzens. Published by Collins and reproduced with permission.