The Papuan harrier (''Circus spilothorax'') is a

bird of prey Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds). In addition to speed and strength, these predat ...

native to

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

which belongs to the harrier genus ''Circus''. It was classified as a subspecies of the eastern marsh harrier (''Circus spilonotus'') of eastern

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. It is thinly scattered across the whole of New Guinea except for the

Vogelkop The Bird's Head Peninsula ( Indonesian: ''Kepala Burung'', nl, Vogelkop) or Doberai Peninsula (''Semenanjung Doberai''), is a large peninsula that makes up the northwest portion of the island of New Guinea, comprising the Indonesian provinces ...

peninsula in the west. There are several unconfirmed reports from Australia but the bird can easily be confused with the swamp harrier. It inhabits

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

and

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

s up to 3800 m above sea-level. It hunts low over open ground searching for small mammals, birds and lizards. The adult male is usually silvery-grey with black head, throat, back and wing-markings and white underparts. Adult females are brown with a pale rump, barred tail and streaked underparts. Juveniles are blackish-brown with cream-coloured markings on the head, more extensive in the female. The length of the bird varies from 47 to 54 cm; females are larger than the males. In the central highlands and the

Sepik The Sepik () is the longest river on the island of New Guinea, and the second largest in Oceania by discharge volume after the Fly River. The majority of the river flows through the Papua New Guinea (PNG) provinces of Sandaun (formerly West Se ...

valley there is a dark

morph Morph may refer to: Biology * Morph (zoology), a visual or behavioral difference between organisms of distinct populations in a species * Muller's morphs, a classification scheme for genetic mutations * "-morph", a suffix commonly used in tax ...

; males of this form are mostly blackish with a grey tail and the females are mostly dark brown.

References

* Brian J. Coates & William S. Peckover (2001), ''Birds of New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago: a photographic guide'', Dove Publications, Alderley, Australia. * Graham Pizzey & Frank Knight (1997) ''The Graham Pizzey & Frank Knight Field Guide to the Birds of Australia'', HarperCollins, London, UK. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1851474 Papuan harrier Birds of New Guinea Birds of prey of Oceania Papuan harrier Papuan harrier