Hen Harriers may glide slowly over the ground on V-shaped wings like Marsh Harriers but they are always smaller and slimmer. The male lacks the brown body of a Marsh Harrier and so looks almost completely grey, or even white, apart from the black wing tips and the smoky trailing edge to the wing. Females or immatures are slimmer and noticeably longer in the wing than Marsh Harriers and have obvious white rumps. Their barred tails earn them the nickname of 'ringtails'.

Breeds on moorland and in young conifer plantations. Winters on moorland and on lowland fields, marshes and estuaries.

A moorland breeder in Scotland, mainly on Orkney and the Hebrides, less common in north England and Wales. Many birds also winter, in both coastal and upland areas, and can be seen in reasonably large numbers at their communal roost sites. In 1997 a pair bred in the Upper Goyt Valley, Derbyshire where public viewing was encouraged. if these birds return, this will be a terrific place to watch their tumbling displays.

A widespread breeding bird with numbers often fluctuating in particular sites according to the availablity of prey. One of the best sites I know is the Fokstumyra reserve in Norway. In winter, they tend to concentrate around coasts and wetlands. Numbers can be seen together at communal roost sites such as at Lac du der Chantecoq (France), Oostvaardersplassen (Holland) and Tregaron Bog (Wales).

©BirdGuides 1999