The Marsh Hawk

By Al Lowe
Contributor

The Marsh Hawk is different from almost all other hawks in many ways. It hunts low to the ground, the male and female are of different colours, it makes its nest on the ground, and it lays more eggs than other hawks.
This is a fairly common hawk in Northern Ontario. In fact, it is quite common in most of Canada, and down into a large part of the United States. It is present also in the northern parts of Europe and Asia. In the world, there are only ten species in this grouping, and they are all very similar. The proper name for our hawk in the Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus).
You may see birds of quite different colours. The adult male is a somewhat bluey grey. The adult female is generally a mottled brown. And the young are quite reddish until they reach about the third year. All, however, show a very distinctive white rump.
All harriers have the same habit of hunting, and it is quite different from that of most hawks. They always hunt in open areas - marshes, beaver meadows, pasture lands - that sort of thing. And they hunt low to the ground - only a few feet up. They move fairly slowly, flapping and gliding with wings in a shallow V. When a mouse is spotted, the legs come straight down, claws fully spread. They live mainly on mice, rats, small birds, frogs, snakes and insects. They can, however, master larger animals, grouse, bobwhites, muskrats, ducks and so on.
Flying for this bird, is quite a well-developed art. For catching food, it flaps a bit and then glides - sometimes for several rods. It will do this for hours, and miles in a painstaking, methodical search of the flatlands below it. Courting flights, however, are an entirely different matter. He will go up 60 feet or more, then come down in a very fast dive. Just before he hits the ground, he pulls up. A few lazy wing beats and he is away up again. He may go straight up and then fall backwards - a real aerial demonstration. This seems to be quite impressive, especially to female harriers. He may do these stunts up to 30 or 40 times.
Harriers are very vigorous about defending their own territory. There are many accounts of people being attacked, particularly if a nest is near. Many a person has been hit on the head, often without knowing why. They will attack other types of hawks, as well as any other big birds who happen to wander to close.
As we already noted, this hawk nests on the ground. It makes a substantial, well-built nest of grass, weeds and sticks. The usual clutch of eggs is from 5 to 9 or 10. This is way more than the usual 2 to 3 of most hawks. Incubation takes about a month, and the young don't all hatch at the same time. After they can fly, the young hunt right along with their parents until migration time in the fall, when everybody goes their own way.
For many years, the Marsh Hawk was shot on sight by anyone who had a farm, or kept chickens. However, although they do sometimes take young chickens or other poultry, by far the greater part of their diet is made up of mice and other pests. This bird is estimated to be about 90% beneficial.
Our Northern Harrier is a useful bird, as well as being extremely graceful. Ducks Unlimited, by re-establishing large areas of wetland, has restored it to much of its original habitat.