Hawk type?

[jonny_redhorse]

this morning as I was driving by the Hibbing airport,this hawk was flying along the highway hovering occsionally ..fly,hover,fly hover...anyway,I rolled the passenger side window down (still driving slowly to keep up with the hawk.hey.this ain't easy ... ...and got this pic....not sure what kind of hawk it is,anyone know?

[Steve Foss]

Hey Jonny, spring must be here. That's a male northern harrier (formerly called a marsh hawk). The females are a little bit bigger and a mottled brown above with pale bellies. Males, like this fella, are a silvery gray above.

Unless they are flying in a paired breeding display, when they might soar high in the air in up-and-down seesaw undulations, they hunt low over the ground just as you saw that one doing.

[Dotch]

That "snowball" on their rump when flying away from you is a dead giveaway. As you might have guessed, due to their low, skim above the tall grass, flight pattern, they are primarily rodent consumers. These guys & gals frequent our marsh/wet meadow area and should have prime pickin's after kicking some deer mice out of the bluebird houses this morning. They're called northern harriers now but they'll always be marsh hawks to me. Oops! I hear bellering. Bottle lamb time. Time to play Mr. Mom again.