Western Marsh Harrier
Photo: Stephan Sprinz · CC BY 4.0

Kites, Old World Vultures, Eagles, and Hawks

Western Marsh Harrier

Circus aeruginosus

LCLeast Concern
Family
Kites, Old World Vultures, Eagles, and Hawks (Accipitridae)
Order
Accipitriformes

Overview

The western marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus) is a large harrier, a bird of prey from temperate and subtropical western Eurasia and adjacent Africa. It is also known as the Eurasian marsh harrier. Formerly, a number of relatives were included in C. aeruginosus, which was then known as "marsh harrier". The related taxa are now generally considered to be separate species: the eastern marsh harrier (C. spilonotus), the Papuan harrier (C. spilothorax) of eastern Asia and the Wallacea, the swamp harrier (C. approximans) of Australasia and the Madagascar marsh harrier (C. maillardi) of the western Indian Ocean islands.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.