African Marsh-Harrier ( Circus ranivorus, family: Accipitridae)

african marsh harrier kruger national park birds The African Marsh-Harrier (Latin name Circus ranivorus) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 165 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 501 also a picture of the African Marsh-Harrier on page 528. The African Marsh-Harrier belongs to the family of birds classified as Accipitridae.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The African Marsh-Harrier is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the African Marsh-Harrier in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. African Marsh-Harrier : see above distribution map.

The African Marsh-Harrier.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The African Marsh-Harrier is a bird about the size of a grey hornbill. The height of the African Marsh-Harrier is about 49 cms and its weight is about 430 gms

You will find that the male African Marsh-Harrier plumage and colours are different to that of the female African Marsh-Harrier

  • Head is brown.
  • Eye is yellow.
  • Bill is grey.
  • Throat is white, brown.
  • Back is brown.
  • Legs are yellow.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The African Marsh-Harrier feeds on the ground mainly

Smaller animals

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The African Marsh-Harrier is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Circus ranivorus will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of African Marsh-Harrier is to create the nest on the ground or close to water. The bird lays eggs which are blue in colour and number between 2 to 5

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for African Marsh-Harrier are: woodlands

You will normally see the African Marsh-Harrier by itself rather than in the company of birds of the same species.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... uMamhlangeni

Afrikaans ...Afrikaanse Vleivalk(Paddavreter)

German ... Afrikanische Rohrweihe, Froschweihe

Portuguese ... Tartaranho-dos-pntanos

French ... Busard grenouillard

Dutch ... Afrikaanse Bruine Kiekendief

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 165

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za