Hen Harrier

The hen harrier is a bird of prey, 41–52 cm long with a wingspan of 97–122 cm. It is sexually dimorphic: males are smaller, mostly grey and white with black wingtips, at 290–400 g, while females are larger, at 390–750 g, and predominantly brown with buff underparts barred brown. Both have a white rump patch, more noticeable in females and juveniles, which are often called ringtails. It is relatively long winged and long tailed (Wikipedia, general species account).

It breeds in open areas such as marshes and grasslands in Eurasia and is migratory, moving further south outside the breeding season. Four to eight, exceptionally two to ten, whitish eggs are laid. The name refers to its former habit of preying on free-ranging fowl. The female whistles piih-eh when receiving food from the male. The cached account gives no detail specific to India. SoIB 2023 rates it a Moderate conservation priority, a winter migrant of open habitat with a Moderate range and a current decline of over 5% a year (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).