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How big are they?
These birds are between 16 and 24 inches long. If their
wings were stretched out, they would be 3-4 feet wide. |
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How many eggs do they
lay?
The female lays from 3-7 bluish-white eggs once a year.
They hatch within 31-32 days. |
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How long do the
fledglings stay in the nest?
They like to build their nests out of sticks and grass.
They make their nests close to or on the ground. The
young birds (fledglings) stay in the nest for a month. |
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When do they hunt?
They hunt during the day. (diurnal) |
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What do they eat?
They like to eat small mammals, frogs, snakes, small birds, dead
animals, , and large insects. |
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Where do they live?
Northern Harriers can be found in North and South America,
Europe, and Asia. |
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What kind of place do
they like to live in?
They like to live on grasslands, wetlands, meadows, pine forests
and tundra. |
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Interesting facts:
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They can fly over 70 miles per hour while chasing prey. |
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They usually find prey by listening and finding it by
sound. This is very unusual because most daytime
raptors use their amazing sense of sight. |
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Northern Harriers that live in the colder north will
migrate, or fly, south for the winter. |
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When building the nest, the female does most of the
work. |
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Works Cited:
Alsop, Fred. Birds of North America. New York: DK
Publishing, 2001.
Circus cyaneus.
29 Nov. 2007. <http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/49360/all>.
Northern Harrier.
5 Oct. 2007. <http://www.peregrinefund.org/Explore_Raptors/hawks/nharrier.html>.
Northern harrier.
Encyclopedia of Animals. 2006 edition.
Schmoker, Bill. "Re:
Picture donation." Email to Club on Web 2 Nov. 2007.
Wood, Margie. “Human sprawl silences birds: bird counts show
dropping numbers of five common Colorado bird species.”
Pueblo Chieftain. 02 July 2007.
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