---
title: "Pallid Harrier"
description: "Circus macrourus — Uccelli. The pallid harrier (Circus macrourus) is a species of harrier, a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/pallid-harrier
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Pallid Harrier

> Circus macrourus — Uccelli. The pallid harrier (Circus macrourus) is a species of harrier, a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae.

- Scientific name: *Circus macrourus*
- Category: `birds` (Uccelli)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Prati e campi)
- iNaturalist observations: 4653
- Wikidata: [Q230837](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q230837)
- iNaturalist taxon: [5178](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/5178)

## Names

- en: Pallid Harrier
- de: Steppenweihe
- es: Aguilucho papialbo
- fr: Busard pâle
- nl: Steppekiekendief
- pt: Tartaranhão-rabilongo
- pl: Błotniak stepowy

## Countries with the most observations

RU (2538), IN (329), KZ (133), GE (124), KE (98), UA (96), FR (74), IL (65), FI (63), DE (55), IT (54), TZ (54)

## Summary

The pallid harrier (Circus macrourus) is a species of harrier, a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. It breeds in southern parts of eastern Europe and central Asia and Iran and winters mainly in India and southeast Asia. It is a rare but increasing vagrant to Great Britain and western Europe. In 2017 a pair of pallid harriers nested in a barley field in the Netherlands; they raised four chicks, the first recorded breeding of the species in the country. In 2019, a pair bred in Spain for the first time.
This medium-sized raptor breeds on open plains, bogs and heathland. In winter it is a bird of open country.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pallid_harrier

## Photo

![Pallid Harrier](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/pallid-harrier/medium.jpg)

Photo: Лариса Артемьева · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/96459645

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/pallid-harrier?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).