Hen Harrier (Circus cyaneus) | Species | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 (1/800th sec at f11. Click image for larger version. © David Hastings) DescriptionL: 44 - 52cm; WS: 100 - 120cm Male Hen Harriers are a pale grey colour. Females and immature birds are brown with a white rump and a long, barred tail, which give them the name "ring-tail". In the breeding season UK birds are to be found on the upland heather moorlands of Wales, Northern England, Northern Ireland and Scotland (as well as the Isle of Man). In winter birds move further south to lowland farmland, heathland, coastal marshes, fenland and river valleys. Breeding habitat is open areas with low vegetation, such as heather moorland. The Hen Harrier is a Red list species under Schedule 1 of The Wildlife and Countryside Act. Despite this protection, it is persecuted by gamekeepers on driven grouse moors in England and Scotland. Sightings
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