Northern harriers, formerly known as marsh hawks, fly low over grasslands, wetlands and crop fields, tilting, flapping and gliding as they search for mice, voles and frogs. Equipped with long wings and a long tail, they are easily identified by their prominant white rump. Adult males are light gray above, with a black fringe at the end of each wing; their underwings, chest and abdomen are white. Females and immatures are brown above, with brown streaking of the chest and sides; immatures also have a light brown abdomen.
Yesterday, on my trip back to Missouri, I took a southern route across Kansas, driving from Garden City to Dodge City to Wichita. Passing through a rolling landscape of grasslands and crop fields, I was amazed by the number of harriers that I saw; there seemed to be one every mile or so and it's a long way across Kansas! What's more, all but a handful were adult males.
Northern harriers are migratory hawks. While they can be seen across central latitudes of North America throughout the year, they are primarily summer residents in the northern states and winter visitors in the Gulf Coastal region. During these seasonal migrations, the adult males are the last to depart in the fall and the first to arrive in the spring. What I saw yesterday was likely the vanguard of their spring exodus, perhaps enhanced by a winter of heavy snows and ice across the Plains.
