CreatureData

Malagasy harrier

Circus macrosceles A. Newton, 1863

ENEndangeredbirds of prey

The malagasy harrier (Circus macrosceles) is a species in the family Accipitridae, order Accipitriformes. Recorded adults weigh 600 g to 711.5 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.

Malagasy harrier (Circus macrosceles)
Photo: John Gerrard Keulemans · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the malagasy harrier

Weight
600 g – 711.5 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Carnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
grasslandsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
3 – 4src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the malagasy harrier live?

Not recorded

What is the malagasy harrier?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The Malagasy harrier (Circus macrosceles) is a bird of prey belonging to the marsh harrier group of harriers. It inhabits Madagascar and the Comoro Islands in the Indian Ocean. It was formerly regarded as a subspecies of the Réunion harrier (C. maillardi) but is increasingly treated as a separate species. It is also known as the Madagascar harrier, Madagascar marsh harrier or Malagasy marsh harrier.

From the Wikipedia article “Malagasy harrier” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Malagasy_harrier&oldid=1380573786), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the malagasy harrier endangered?

The malagasy harrier is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species. What the categories mean.

How is the malagasy harrier classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderAccipitriformes
  5. familyAccipitridae
  6. genusCircus
  7. SpeciesCircus macrosceles A. Newton, 1863

Synonyms Circus macroceles, Circus maillardi macrosceles, Circus spilonotus macrosceles

Other names and names in other languages (39)
  • Madagascar harrierEnglish
  • Madagascar harrierEnglish
  • Madagascar marsh harrierEnglish
  • Madagascar marsh-harrierEnglish
  • Madagascar marsh-harrierEnglish
  • Malagasy marsh harrierEnglish
  • مرزة ملغاشيةArabic
  • Skoul MadagaskarBreton
  • arpella de MadagascarCatalan
  • moták madagaskarskýCzech
  • MadagaskarrørhøgDanish
  • Madagascar RørhøgDanish
  • MadagaskarweiheGerman
  • madagaskara cirkuoEsperanto
  • Aguilucho malgacheSpanish
  • Aguilucho lagunero de MadagascarSpanish
  • Aguilucho lagunero malgacheSpanish
  • madagaskari loorkullEstonian
  • madagaskarinsuohaukkaFinnish
  • Busard de MadagascarFrench
  • Albanella del MadagascarItalian
  • レユニオンチュウヒJapanese
  • マダガスカルチュウヒJapanese
  • malagasinė lingėLithuanian
  • FanindryMalagasy
  • MadagaskarkiekendiefDutch
  • madagaskarsivhaukNorwegian
  • błotniak maskareńskiPolish
  • tartaranhão-malgaxePortuguese
  • Gavião-de-MadagascarPortuguese
  • Мадагаскарский луньRussian
  • Мадагаскарский болотный луньRussian
  • kaňa madagaskarskáSlovak
  • Madagaskarska ejaSerbian
  • madagaskarkärrhökSwedish
  • Madagaskar DelicesiTurkish
  • лунь мадагаскарськийUkrainian
  • 马岛鹞Chinese
  • 馬達加斯加鷂Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the malagasy harrier

Other species in the same genus Circus.

LC, Least Concern
Pied harrier (Circus melanoleucos)

Pied harrier

Circus melanoleucos

Accipitridae

CompareMalagasy harrier vs Hen harrierMalagasy harrier vs Western marsh harrierMalagasy harrier vs Pallid harrierMalagasy harrier vs Montagu's harrier

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the malagasy harrier?

An adult malagasy harrier weighs 600 g – 711.5 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the malagasy harrier endangered?

The malagasy harrier is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

What kind of animal is the malagasy harrier?

The malagasy harrier (Circus macrosceles) 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.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Malagasy harrier (Circus macrosceles). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/malagasy-harrier

MLA

“Malagasy harrier (Circus macrosceles).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/malagasy-harrier.

BibTeX
@misc{malagasy_harrier_2026,
  title = {Malagasy harrier (Circus macrosceles)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/malagasy-harrier},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}