Hen harrier
Circus cyaneus
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What to look out for:
The male is light grey with black wing tips and is smaller than the common buzzard; the female is as large as a buzzard and is predominantly brown. Both have yellow legs, but dark beaks. This is a bird of prey found on open heather moor-land, where it is often seen gliding and slowly flying at between 2 – 3 metres above the ground. This particular hunting method is called, quartering the ground. It feeds on ground nesting birds, taking both adult red grouse and their chicks. It also feeds on voles and mice. The harrier will perch on suitable bushes and fence posts, while it rests from quartering.
They nest on the ground, surrounded by mature heather plants and the area around the nest can be scattered with the remains of kills and the regurgitated pellets produced by their growing young.
When to see:
This bird is resident in Scotland throughout the year and breeds in early summer nesting in April. When the young are being fed in the nest, both adults are catching prey.
Where to see:
Found on open heather moor-land from Galloway and Kintyre in the west to as far in the north as Orkney.
Things to think about:
Hen harriers are protected, but there is some contention between grouse moor owners and conservationists; the latter saying that the increase in numbers is depressing red grouse recovery, while the former see the previous overgrazing of heather to be the cause of the slow recovery.
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