Also known as the Marsh Hawk, harriers tend to be territorial and fly low over open country, and prefers marshes and open grasslands.   The breeding range over the northern two thirds of the United States in the west and over the northern half of the United States in the east.  It covers almost all of Canada and Alaska except the northern most reaches.  The winter range covers parts of southern Canada and almost the entire United States south to South America.  This species is also found in Eurasia where it is known as the Hen Harrier.

During courtship the male will perform a series of dives from a near stall, including barrel rolls and U-shaped loops.

By night the males nest with their mate and young in a well hidden nest upon the ground.  Often the nests are impossible to locate as well as being inaccessible to creatures that do not fly.  Four or five bluish-white eggs, sometimes lightly spotted with brown, will be laid in this nest of reeds and grass. The eggs are incubated by the female for about 1 month and leave the nest about 35 days later.

While the male will bring food to the female but the young are fed by the female.  The male will call for the female, which will rise up from the marsh to meet her mate.  And then the male will toss the furry prey to the female who turns on her back to snatch the food with her talons.  The female will not fly directly back to the nest but will land some 300 feet from the nest and study the horizon from the ground before flying to the nest.  During the non-breeding season the female will  aggressiveyly exclude the males form the preferred feeding areas.

During the day, this hawk relies both on sighta and hearing to located prey.  They have superior hearing to most hawks as the owl facial ruff allows them to amplify sound.   Their diet includes voles, mice, frogs, fish, snakes, grasshoppers, and sometimes smaller birds.  They hunt by flying low over the ground and surprizing their prey.  They also eat carrion on occasion.

Length 17 to 24 inches