The swamp harrier, aka Australasian marsh harrier, Australasian harrier, or kāhu, hails from Australasia, Australia, and New Zealand. These raptors face the threats of habitat loss and destruction at the hands of wetland drainage for farming and ranching, residential developments, and commercial developments; vehicle strike (being hit by vehicles) due to scavenging for road kill on the streets and highways; human disturbance, typically of nests during breeding time; hunting; trapping; poisoning and shooting, as revenge killings due to the fear of poultry attacks; accidental poisoning, due to consuming poisoned rodents; and predation, via cats and stoats. However, despite all these adversities, these birds of prey are abundant enough to be listed as Least Concern by the IUCN. Their population trend is listed as stable.
First the Stats…
Scientific name: Circus approximans
Weight: Up to 2.43 lbs.
Length: Up to 24.5 inches
Wingspan: Up to 4.9 feet
Lifespan: Up to 18 years
Now on to the Facts!
1.) These raptors arrived in New Zealand within the last 700 years, replacing the larger, endemic, and now extinct, Eyles’s harrier.
2.) They prefer wetlands and well-watered open countrysides.
3.) These harriers have benefited, to a degree, from European settlements, and are now quite common, especially in open farmlands.
4.) Their common foes are Australian magpies, masked lapwings, that dive bomb the adults, and European starlings that mob adult individuals.
5.) They are heavily blamed and widely persecuted for killing chickens, pheasants, and ducklings.
But wait, there’s more on the swamp harrier!
6.) Ground birds, waterbirds, rabbits, rats, mice, voles, moles, snakes, lizards, frogs, fish, and carrion (dead animals) are all on the menu.
7.) This species nests right on the ground, many times in wetlands, on a mound in reeds or other thick vegetation.
Did you know…?
Known for their slow, low, and methodical flight, these raptors only fly at a top speed of up to 25 mph.
8.) Females lay up to 7 eggs that hatch in up to 34 days.
9.) The chicks are fed by both parents, but incubated only by the female, as the male searches for and brings back food.
10.) Chicks fledge in up to 45 days.
Now a Short Swamp Harrier Video!
This video talks about harriers in general.
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Some source material acquired from: Wikipedia & IUCN
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