Kahu - swamp harrier - Circus approximans
The bird in this photo is feeding on a dead lamb carcass. This habit of scavenging dead lambs led to the kahu being persecuted as a "lamb killer" and shot by farmers, which remains permitted under New Zealand law. However studies show this harrier rarely, if ever, predates living lambs, but does scavenge on the bodies of lambs that have been born dead or died from other reasons.
Kahu - swamp harrier - Circus approximans
The bird in this photo is feeding on a dead lamb carcass. This habit of scavenging dead lambs led to the kahu being persecuted as a "lamb killer" and shot by farmers, which remains permitted under New Zealand law. However studies show this harrier rarely, if ever, predates living lambs, but does scavenge on the bodies of lambs that have been born dead or died from other reasons.