Circus aeruginosus

The white-headed harrier, also known as the Western Marsh-Harrier, is a medium-sized dark-colored harrier with four subspecies.

The white-headed harrier is a migratory bird. From late August to early October, they fly to their wintering grounds via France, Spain, Gibraltar and then along the Atlantic coast of Africa. Some even fly to Senegal, and some also spend the winter in Spain and France. They return to their incubation grounds from mid-March to early April.

White-headed harriers often move alone or in pairs, mostly flying low over waterside grass or swamps, with their wings raised in a shallow "V" shape, gliding slowly over the ground for a long time, or flapping their wings a few times to fly in a flapping manner.

White-headed harriers mainly feed on small birds, chicks, bird eggs, small rodents, frogs, lizards, snakes and other animal food. They can also catch medium-sized water birds and terrestrial birds such as pheasants, mullets and ducks, and sometimes eat carrion. They mainly forage in the morning and evening, often on the water surface and reed marshes, and rarely on dry plains far from water. They mainly forage by flying low along the ground to search for food. Sometimes they also wait to hunt on the ground. Although birds account for a large proportion of their food, it is difficult to find feathers of prey near their nests. Generally, they eat where they catch food, which is often in the wilderness or on tree stumps, unlike some other birds of prey that do not have a dedicated feeding place.

The white-headed harrier usually does not call. The call of the white-headed harrier is similar to that of the crested lapwing, and can only be heard in the incubation area, especially when they have just returned from the wintering area. They are mainly used to attract mates or protect territories. The male bird makes a nasal call of hijäe, quiä or kjäh when diving. When defending the territory against opponents, its call is a softer nasal guig. The female makes a hoarse, soft psie sound while incubating the eggs.

From March and April, the males of the white-headed harrier can be observed on their courtship flights: they swoop down on the females and then suddenly fly off diagonally to the side. Other pairs may reuse the nests built by the previous birds. The nests are made of a large pile of sticks, reeds and similar materials. The white-headed harrier's nest is larger than that of other harriers. Almost only the female participates in the nest-building work.

The white-headed harrier only incubates once a year. In Central Europe, they lay eggs from the beginning of May, and as late as June. There are usually four to five eggs in each nest, and very large nests may have 8 eggs. The eggs are ellipsoidal, smooth, dull, bluish-white, and often stained with other colors by the nesting materials during incubation. Only the female incubates the eggs, and the bear bird feeds her during the incubation period. The incubation period is 31 to 36 days. When it is difficult to get food during the brooding period, the female bird gives the weak chicks to other chicks to eat.

The female bird takes good care of the white-headed harrier chicks in the first seven to ten days after they are hatched. During this period, both the chicks and the female are fed by the male bird. The male bird will drop prey in flight when flying over the nest, or it may land at the edge of the nest and give it to the female. After more than ten days, both adults begin hunting. After 21 to 28 days, the chicks have full wings, and after 35 to 40 days they can fly. They still linger near the nest for fourteen days after they fly out. It is generally not until 23 weeks later that they are fully independent.

Since the end of the 19th century, the number of white-headed harriers in the incubation area has been greatly reduced due to hunting, egg stealing and destruction. Since the 1970s, the number has begun to increase again due to year-round protection and the ban on the use of chemicals such as DDT. They are still threatened due to the destruction of their habitat (drying of swamps and wetlands). In addition, due to global warming, the sea level rises, and the sea water slowly seeps into the reeds. The reeds can tolerate a little salt, but when the sea level rises higher and higher, the large amount of salt will cause the reeds to die in large numbers. Without habitat, the white-headed harriers cannot reproduce, resulting in a sharp decline in their numbers. The current situation of the white-headed harrier is precarious. The lower estimate is that the global white-headed harrier population is about 500,000 to 2 million, and the population is on the rise. The European population accounts for a quarter to half.

Listed in the 2015 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species ver3.1 - Least Concern (LC).

Listed in the CITES Appendix II of the Washington Convention as a protected animal.

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Origin: Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Croatia Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania , Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somalia, South Africa,

The male white-headed harrier has a white head and pale yellowish white or brownish white color from the top of the head to the nape, with fine black-brown feather shafts. The back, shoulders, and waist are chestnut brown or copper rust color; the upper tail coverts are sometimes nearly white, with slight brown spots, the tail feathers are silvery gray-brown, and the tip edge is lighter; the base of the outer tail feathers and the inner vane feather edge are white; the small wing coverts and the inner middle coverts are leathery yellow, with black-brown vertical stripes, the primary coverts and the outer large coverts are silver-gray, and the rest of the wing coverts are dark brown with brown feather edges, the outer primary flight feathers are black-brown, the outer vane is decorated with silver-gray, and the base of the inner vane is yellowish-white; the inner primary flight feathers are light gray-brown, the secondary flight feathers are gray, and the base of the inner vane is nearl