Name:Circus pygargus(Linnaeus, 1758)
Alias:Circus pygargus,Montagu's Harrier
Outline:Bird of prey
Family:Falconiformes Accipitridae H.subfamily H.genus
length:41-52cm
Weight:258-380g
Life:8-16years
IUCN:LC
Montagu's Harrier is a bird with no subspecies.
Montagu's Harrier is a bird that often moves alone or in pairs. Most of the time during the day, it is seen lazily and leisurely gliding in the air, or flapping its wings gently over grasslands and swamps. When resting, it often roosts on trees or telephone poles.
The black-grey kite mainly feeds on rodents, frogs, lizards and large insects, and also eats small birds, chicks and bird eggs. It mainly hunts on the ground. It often flies low over the ground to patrol and hunt, and drops quickly when it finds prey. It eats large insects on the spot, and takes slightly larger prey to nearby protruding mounds to peck at.
The black-grey kite is a summer migratory bird in western Xinjiang, China, and an occasional stray bird and winter migratory bird in other areas. It migrates to its breeding grounds in early April in spring and leaves between September and October.
The breeding season of the black-gray harrier is from May to August. It usually nests in the grass on the ground near the water or in the dry reeds. The nest is mainly composed of thin shrub branches, reeds and grass, with hay inside. The size of the nest is about 50 cm in diameter. Each nest lays 3 to 6 eggs, which are white, usually without spots, and occasionally with brown spots. The size of the egg is 41.2~44.5 mm × 34~35 mm (Somov 1897). Usually one egg is laid every 24 hours, and occasionally one egg is laid every 3~4 days (Ryabov 1940). If an egg is lost, a compensatory nest is usually laid. The female bird incubates the eggs, and the incubation period is 27~30 days. The chicks are complete, and the chicks are fed by the parents after hatching until 35~42 days before they can leave the nest.
Listed in the list of China's national key protected wild animals, and is a second-level protected animal in China.
Listed in the 2012 Red List of Endangered Species of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) ver 3.1-Least Concern (LC).
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