Western Marsh Harrier

Western Marsh Harrier

The Western Marsh-harrier (Circus aeruginosus) is a large harrier, a bird of prey from temperate and subtropical western Eurasia and adjacent Africa. It is also known as the Eurasian Marsh-harrier.

Formerly, a number of relatives were included in C. aeruginosus, which was then known as "Marsh Harrier". The related taxa are now generally considered to be separate species: the Eastern Marsh-harrier (C. spilonotus) and the possibly distinct Papuan Harrier (C. (s.) spilothorax) of eastern Asia and the Wallacea, the Swamp Harrier (C. approximans) of Australasia and the Madagascar Marsh-harrier (C. maillardi) of the western Indian Ocean islands.

The Western Marsh-harrier is often divided into two subspecies, the widely migratory C. a. aeruginosus which is found across most of its range, and C. a. harterti which is resident all-year in north-west Africa.