Pallid Harrier (Circus macrourus)

No other harrier is found in such dry habitats as the Pallid Harrier, a bird of the rolling semi-arid grasslands of Eastern Europe. It only breeds at the edge of the Western Palearctic, in Moldova, Ukraine and European Russia, where it is rare. It once occurred much further west, but has undergone a dramatic decline in range and numbers as grasslands have been turned into farmland, and its very existence as a species might one day be threatened.

By Hari K Patibanda – A Pallid Harrier in a communal roost, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=110197323

The Pallid Harrier hunts much as other harriers do, in a low quartering flight between 1m and 5m above ground. Its main prey items are small mammals, including voles (Microtus), the Steppe Lemming (Lagurus lagurus), hamsters (Cricetus) and ground squirrels (Spermophilus). Each of these mammals shows fluctuations in abundance along cyclical lines, so one season’s feeding will be dominated by one species, another by a different species, and so on. Sometimes mammals are generally scarce, and in such years Pallid Harriers turn their attention instead to ground-nesting birds and large insects.

These birds winter in Africa, where they may lead a nomadic existence and feed on more insects than in Europe. In contrast to other harriers, males and females form pair bonds in their winter quarters and migrate north as a couple.

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