Blue hawk
Circus hudsonius (Linnaeus, 1766)
Status not recordedbirds of prey
The blue hawk (Circus hudsonius) is a species in the family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes. Recorded adults weigh 346 g to 522.5 g and live up to 17.1 years.
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Quick facts about the blue hawk
- Weight
- 346 g – 522.5 g
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 16.4 years – 17.1 years
- Diet
- Carnivore
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grassland
- Egg incubation
- 31 days
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.5
- Age at maturity
- 12 months – 19.2 months
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1
- Lifestyle
- Aerial
- Migration
- Migratory
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the blue hawk live?
Not recorded
Is the blue hawk endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the blue hawk classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderAccipitriformes
- familyAccipitridae
- genusCircus
- SpeciesCircus hudsonius (Linnaeus, 1766)
Synonyms Circus cyaneus hudsonius, Circus uliginosus, Falco hudsonius, Falco uliginosus
Other names and names in other languages (57)
- American harrierEnglish
- Frog hawkEnglish
- Gray ghostEnglish
- Hen harrierEnglish
- Marsh hawkEnglish
- Mouse hawkEnglish
- Northern harrierEnglish
- White-rumped hawkEnglish
- مرزة الشمالArabic
- Американски блатарBulgarian
- arpella pàl·lida americanaCatalan
- ᎠᎪᏕᎯCherokee
- moták americkýCzech
- boda'r GogleddWelsh
- Amerikansk KærhøgDanish
- HudsonweiheGerman
- Αμερικανικός ΧειμωνόκιρκοςGreek
- amerika cirkuoEsperanto
- Gavilán rastreroSpanish
- ameerika loorkullEstonian
- amerikansuohaukkaFinnish
- Busard d'AmériqueFrench
- Cromán MeiriceánachIrish
- זרון אמריקניHebrew
- američka ejaCroatian
- Albanella americanaItalian
- アメリカチュウヒJapanese
- Šiaurinė lingėLithuanian
- ChʼiltaatʼagiiNavajo
- Blauwe kiekendiefDutch
- mørkmyrhaukNorwegian
- WaabishkananiisiOjibwa
- Gabilan MerikanoPapiamento
- błotniak amerykańskiPolish
- Tartaranhão-azuladoPortuguese
- Американский луньRussian
- kaňa americkáSlovak
- Američka poljska ejaSerbian
- amerikansk kärrhökSwedish
- Amerika DelicesiTurkish
- лунь американськийUkrainian
- 北鷂Chinese
- صقر المستنقعاتArabic
- مرزة شماليةArabic
- moták severoamerickýCzech
- Aguilucho de HudsonSpanish
- Aguilucho NorteñoSpanish
- Gavilán de ciénagaSpanish
- Busard des maraisFrench
- Busard hudsonnienFrench
- アメリカハイイロチュウヒJapanese
- Amerikaanse Blauwe KiekendiefDutch
- Gabilan AmericanoPapiamento
- tartaranhão-americanoPortuguese
- tartaranhão-cinzento-americanoPortuguese
- 北方澤鵟Chinese
- 北鹞Chinese
Relatives of the blue hawk
Other species in the same genus Circus.

Hen harrier
Circus cyaneus

Western marsh harrier
Circus aeruginosus

Pallid harrier
Circus macrourus

Montagu's harrier
Circus pygargus
Pied harrier
Circus melanoleucos
Harrier hawk
Circus approximans
CompareBlue hawk vs Hen harrierBlue hawk vs Western marsh harrierBlue hawk vs Pallid harrierBlue hawk vs Montagu's harrier
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the blue hawk?
An adult blue hawk weighs 346 g – 522.5 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
How long does the blue hawk live?
The blue hawk has a recorded lifespan of 16.4 years – 17.1 years.
What kind of animal is the blue hawk?
The blue hawk (Circus hudsonius) belongs to the family Accipitridae in the order Accipitriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits · CC BY 4.0 · v1
Oliveira, B.F., São-Pedro, V.A., Santos-Barrera, G., Penone, C. & Costa, G.C. (2017) AmphiBIO, a global database for amphibian ecological traits. Scientific Data 4: 170123. https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2017.123. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4644424.v5 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Blue hawk (Circus hudsonius). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-hawk
“Blue hawk (Circus hudsonius).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-hawk.
@misc{blue_hawk_2026,
title = {Blue hawk (Circus hudsonius)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-hawk},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}