Sighting the northern harrier hawk

The bird I have photographed here is a northern harrier. It is a medium-size hawk native to North America.

Its summer range extends into Northern Canada and Alaska, but its winter range brings it as far south as the very northern tip of South America.

This hawk is most often seen during winter in Southeast Missouri, flying low over harvested crop fields and looking for small rodents to eat.

Northern harriers seem to fly slow as they hunt, but they are not easy to photograph.

Red-tail hawks and kestrels are often seen hunting over the same fields used by the northern harrier. This can lead to misidentification.

The easiest way to identify a northern harrier in flight is to look for the bright white patch at the base of the bird's tail.