Montagu's Harrier (Circus pygargus) is the slenderest and most long-winged of Sweden's harriers, a graceful bird of prey at the very northern edge of its range and among the country's rarest breeding raptors. It measures 39–50 cm with a wingspan of 96–116 cm and weighs 225–440 grams. The male is a beautiful ash-grey above, with a narrow black band across the flight feathers — the most reliable field mark — plus rust-brown streaks on the pale underparts and black wingtips; females and young birds are brown with a white rump, though the white patch is less prominent than in the closely related Hen Harrier. Like other harriers, it hunts low over open ground with its wings held raised in a shallow V.
The species is largely silent, though a bright, cackling "kjäk-kjäk-kjäk" can be heard near the nest and during display flights. In Sweden it occurs mainly in the southernmost provinces — Skåne, Öland and Gotland — tied to open farmland, with a tiny and fluctuating population numbering only a few dozen pairs; it is red-listed as Endangered. As a long-distance migrant it arrives late, typically in May, and departs already in August for winter quarters in tropical Africa and South Asia. It nests directly on the ground, in leys, cereal fields or other dense low vegetation, where the female lays 4–5 eggs — a habit that makes the species highly vulnerable, since nests placed in crops are often destroyed before the young can fledge at harvest time. Targeted conservation work, locating and marking nests so farmers can leave an unharvested patch around them, has been crucial to saving Sweden's remaining breeding pairs. It hunts over open country for voles and mice, also taking small birds, young birds, lizards and large insects, spotted during a slow, low, rocking search flight and struck down on the ground.
Read about this species in Swedish →