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Northern Harrier

What is the Northern Harrier size? Northern Harriers are slender, medium-sized raptors with long, fairly broad wings and a long, rounded tail. In Northern Harrier images, you’ll see that they have a flat, owl-like face and a small, sharply hooked bill. Males are gray above and whitish below with black wingtips, a dark trailing edge to the wing, and a black-banded tail. Young Northern Harriers are brown, with black bands on the tail. Adult females have whitish undersides with brown streaks, whereas immatures are buffy, with less streaking. All Northern Harriers have a white rump patch that is obvious when the Northern Harrier is flying. The Northern Harrier flies low over the ground when hunting, weaving back and forth over fields and marshes as they watch and listen for small animals. On the breeding grounds, the male Northern Harrier performs elaborate flying barrel rolls to court the female Northern Harrier.

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