Juvenile Northern Harrier in Bishop area

From: Debby Parker
Date: 7/20/99
Time: 10:12:55 PM
Remote Name: 209.221.218.169

Comments

After watching the adult No. Harriers maintain & defend their nesting territories all winter and spring near Brockman Ln in Finkbeiner Forest, it's great to see the results. Today, a single young, probably from one of the two nests in the area, was out hunting and vocalizing. Very dark, almost black on the back, with an orange unstreaked breast, this bird is easy to pick out. Since Northern Harriers nest on or near the ground, prescribed burning needs to be done after the young have fledged . To be on the safe side, end of August for our Bishop area, might be best. I used Wheeler and Clark's, "A Photographic Guide to North American Raptors" to help with my ID. I find this book very helpful for raptor ID.