How to Identify a Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius)

• Head pattern: Face looks rather owl-like; like an owl, it may rely on keen hearing to help locate prey
• Body pattern: Contrasting white rump patch is conspicuous in flight on all ages/sexes
• Flight silhouette: Best known by its shape and low, slow flight with wings held angled up in a shallow V (dihedral)
• Body pattern: Adult male gray with black wingtips; female and juvenile brown, juvenile rusty-orange below, female whiter with more streaking
• Size: 16-24 in (41-61 cm); wingspan 3 ft 6 in (1.1 m); roughly the size of a Crow or Mallard

Both hold their wings in a shallow V (dihedral) in low flight over open ground, but Northern Harrier shows a white rump patch and an owl-like facial disk, while Turkey Vulture shows two-toned silvery-gray flight feathers against black wing linings and a bare red head The Turkey Vulture page lists its own marks.

Marshes, fields, and prairies; found in many kinds of open terrain, both wet and dry, with good ground cover Found across Alaska, Canada, California, the East, Florida, the Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, New England, Northwest, Plains, Rocky Mountains, Southeast, Southwest, and Texas

Hunts low and slow over open ground, likely relying partly on hearing like an owl to locate prey

Raptors are usually far away and against the sky, so expose for the bird, not the sky, and take several frames as it turns: the tail shape, wing shape and underwing pattern show best in flight. For a perched bird, get the head and chest in one frame. Size is hard to judge alone; compare with a nearby crow, gull or fence post. The app names the likely species; confirm with the marks above.