Western Marsh-Harrier
Circus aeruginosus
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAves (Aus)
- OrderAccipitriformes
- FamilyAccipitridae (Accipítrids)
- GenusCircus (Harriers)
- SpeciesCircus aeruginosus (Western Marsh-Harrier)
The western marsh harrier (Circus aeruginosus) is a large harrier, a bird of prey from temperate and subtropical western Eurasia and adjacent Africa. It is also known as the Eurasian marsh harrier. Formerly, a number of relatives were included in C. aeruginosus, which was then known as "marsh harrier". The related taxa are now generally considered to be separate species: the eastern marsh harrier (C. spilonotus), the Papuan harrier (C. spilothorax) of eastern Asia and the Wallacea, the swamp harrier (C. approximans) of Australasia and the Madagascar marsh harrier (C. maillardi) of the western Indian Ocean islands. The western marsh harrier is often divided into two subspecies, the widely migratory C. a. aeruginosus which is found across most of its range, and C. a. Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Samburu National Reserve
Pale Harrier
Circus macrourus
Montagu's Harrier
Circus pygargus
Tawny Eagle
Aquila rapax
Bateleur
Terathopius ecaudatus
Eastern Chanting-Goshawk
Melierax poliopterus
Black-winged Kite
Elanus caeruleus
White-backed Vulture
Gyps africanus
Martial Eagle
Polemaetus bellicosus
African Fish-Eagle
Haliaeetus vocifer
Gabar Goshawk
Micronisus gabar
Hooded Vulture
Necrosyrtes monachus
African Hawk-Eagle
Aquila spilogaster
📅 Monthly Probability
Fewer than 5 records of Western Marsh-Harrier at Samburu National Reserve — not enough to chart months honestly.
☀️ When They're Spotted
Most active during daytime hours (6am–6pm) · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there