The Montagu's Harrier is a ground-nester that lays its nest directly on the ground in leys, cereal fields or other dense, low-growing vegetation. The female usually lays 4–5 eggs. The fact that the nest sits in crops harvested before the young have fledged is a serious threat — the nest is easily destroyed during harvesting. Targeted protection measures, in which nests are located and marked so that the farmer can leave an unharvested square around the nest, have been decisive in conserving the Swedish breeding pairs.