Pallid harrier
Circus macrourus (S. G. Gmelin, 1770)
NTNear Threatenedbirds of prey
The pallid harrier (Circus macrourus), also called the pale harrier, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae and the order Accipitriformes. It is a small, carnivorous, migratory bird of grassland habitat with an aerial lifestyle, weighing from 322 to 445 g and with a wingspan of 1.09 m.
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Quick facts about the pallid harrier
It lays 4.5 eggs per clutch and one clutch per year, with an incubation period of 29.5 days and sexual maturity at 2 years. The IUCN Red List lists it as Near Threatened, which is not an IUCN threatened category, and its geographic range covers 6,168,000 km².
- Weight
- 322 g – 445 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 1.09 msrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 13.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 13.5 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grasslandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 29.5 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 23.9 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the pallid harrier?
Photos of the pallid harrier
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the pallid harrier live?
Not recorded
What is the pallid harrier?
The pallid harrier (Circus macrourus) is a species of harrier, a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It breeds in southern parts of eastern Europe and central Asia and Iran and winters mainly in India and southeast Asia. It is a rare but increasing vagrant to Great Britain and western Europe. In 2017 a pair of pallid harriers nested in a barley field in the Netherlands; they raised four chicks, the first recorded breeding of the species in the country. In 2019, a pair bred in Spain for the first time.
This medium-sized raptor breeds on open plains, bogs and heathland. In winter it is a bird of open country.
From the Wikipedia article “Pallid harrier” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pallid_harrier&oldid=1379729635), 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 pallid harrier endangered?
The pallid harrier is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species. What the categories mean.
How is the pallid harrier classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderAccipitriformes
- familyAccipitridae
- genusCircus
- SpeciesCircus macrourus (S. G. Gmelin, 1770)
Synonyms Accipiter macrourus, Circus aequipar, Circus superaliaris, Circus superciliaris, Circus swainsoni, Falco macrourus, Pseudocircus macrourus
Other names and names in other languages (83)
- PAHAEnglish
- Pale harrierEnglish
- WitborsvleivalkAfrikaans
- WitborspaddavreterAfrikaans
- Witborspaddavreter (Witborsvleivalk)Afrikaans
- مرزة باهتةArabic
- المرزة الباهتةArabic
- مرزة بغثاءArabic
- milán papublancuAsturian
- Çöl belibağlısıAzerbaijani
- Стэпавы луньBelarusian
- Степен блатарBulgarian
- Skoul gwennBreton
- Arpella russaCatalan
- arpella pàl·lida russaCatalan
- Ҫеҫенхир хӑлачӗChuvash
- moták stepníCzech
- Boda gwelwWelsh
- Boda LlwydwynWelsh
- SteppehøgDanish
- SteppenweiheGerman
- ހުދު އުހަނޑަDivehi
- ΣτεπόκιρκοςGreek
- ΑσπροσιάχινοGreek
- StepcirkuoEsperanto
- stepa cirkuoEsperanto
- Aguilucho papialboSpanish
- stepi-loorkullEstonian
- Mirotz lepazuriaBasque
- سنقر سفیدPersian
- arosuohaukkaFinnish
- HeiðaheykurFaroese
- Busard pâleFrench
- Cromán bánlíochIrish
- Tartaraña de papo brancoGalician
- זרון שדותHebrew
- fakó rétihéjaHungarian
- Տափաստանային մկնաճուռակArmenian
- Մկնաճուռյակ տափաստանայինArmenian
- FölheiðirIcelandic
- Albanella pallidaItalian
- ウスハイイロチュウヒJapanese
- მდელოს ძელქორიGeorgian
- Дала құладыныKazakh
- SteppeweiLuxembourgish
- SteppenhénkeldéifLuxembourgish
- stepinė lingėLithuanian
- stepes lijaLatvian
- stepes lījaLatvian
- степска ејаMacedonian
- മേടുതപ്പിMalayalam
- Bugħadam AbjadMaltese
- Хээрийн цагаан элэгтMongolian
- पांढूरका भोवत्याMarathi
- SteppekiekendiefDutch
- steppehaukNorwegian
- błotniak stepowyPolish
- tartaranhão-pálidoPortuguese
- Tartaranhão-de-peito-brancoPortuguese
- Melv sblatgRomansh
- Erete albRomanian
- Степной луньRussian
- ÁdjohávutNorthern Sami
- kaňa stepnáSlovak
- Stepni lunjSlovenian
- stepski lunjSlovenian
- SeitlhoaeleliSouthern Sotho
- Shqipja e stepaveAlbanian
- Stepska ejaSerbian
- Stepska eja / Степска ejaSerbian
- stäpphökSwedish
- Kipondya KijivuSwahili
- Poonai ParundhuTamil
- เหยี่ยวทุ่งสีจางThai
- Bozkır tuygunuTurkish
- Bozkır DelicesiTurkish
- NghotsanaTsonga
- Хову кускежизиTuvinian
- лунь степовийUkrainian
- Diều bụng trắngVietnamese
- UlubisiXhosa
- 草原鷂Chinese
- 草原鹞Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the pallid harrier
Other species in the same genus Circus.
Hen harrier
Circus cyaneus
Western marsh harrier
Circus aeruginosus
Montagu's harrier
Circus pygargus
Pied harrier
Circus melanoleucos
Swamp harrier
Circus approximans
Eastern marsh harrier
Circus spilonotus
ComparePallid harrier vs Hen harrierPallid harrier vs Western marsh harrierPallid harrier vs Montagu's harrierPallid harrier vs Pied harrier
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the pallid harrier?
The pallid harrier is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It belongs to the genus Circus and the order Accipitriformes.
How heavy is the pallid harrier?
The pallid harrier weighs from 322 to 445 g, with a representative adult body mass of 384.4 g. Its wingspan is 1.09 m.
What does the pallid harrier eat?
The pallid harrier is a carnivore.
Is the pallid harrier endangered?
No. The pallid harrier is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
How many eggs does the pallid harrier lay?
The pallid harrier lays 4.5 eggs per clutch, with one clutch per year. The eggs are incubated for 29.5 days.
Does the pallid harrier migrate?
Yes, the pallid harrier is migratory. Its habitat is grassland.
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 - 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). - 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). Pallid harrier (Circus macrourus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/pallid-harrier
“Pallid harrier (Circus macrourus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/pallid-harrier.
@misc{pallid_harrier_2026,
title = {Pallid harrier (Circus macrourus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/pallid-harrier},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}