Family Hawks, Eagles (Accipitridae)
Least Concern
Pied Harrier (Circus melanoleucos)
Taxonomy
French: Busard tchoug German: Elsterweihe Spanish: Aguilucho pío
Taxonomy:
Falco melanoleucos
Pennant
, 1769,Sri Lanka
.Distribution:
S Siberia (Transbaikalia) and E Mongolia E to Amurland and NE China; has bred in N Myanmar and NE India (Assam). Winters from India and Sri Lanka to S China, Borneo and Philippines.
Descriptive notes
43–50 cm; male 254–325 g, female 390–455 g; wingspan 110–125 cm. Male strikingly patterned, with jet black on head, neck, breast, back and primaries... read more
Voice
Generally silent outside breeding season. In display, male repeatedly gives “kiiy-veee” (recalling... read more
Habitat
Open ground, including grasslands, steppe, edge of wet meadows, marshes with reeds and rushes,... read more
Food and feeding
Diet not well studied. Small mammals, especially voles, but also mice and shrews; more occasionally small terrestrial birds and their... read more
Breeding
Laying in May in Siberia, probably in Apr in N Burma. Nests on ground, in long grass, reedbeds, rushes or sometimes in bushes; nest is thin... read more
Movements
Migratory, except in Assam and Burma, where may well only breed irregularly. Reaches N breeding... read more
Status and conservation
Not globally threatened (Least Concern). CITES II. Relatively small range, apparently with limited numbers; population size and trends poorly known; total of 14,534 birds... read more
Monotypic.