Back to photostream

Hen Harrier

Male and female Hen Harriers look very different. Males are pale grey with black wing tips www.flickr.com/photos/timmelling/51853923119/in/photolist while females, also known as ringtails, look like this, brown with a white rump. Such plumage differences between males and females are known as extreme sexual dimorphism and at one time they were thought to be different species. It was Colonel George Montagu (1753-1815) who established that they were one species when he collected a brood of "Ring-tailed Hawks" and kept them for more than a year until the male started to moult into grey plumage.

5,569 views
91 faves
38 comments
Uploaded on February 17, 2023
Taken on July 7, 2022