Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Northern Harrier (Circus cyanea)

Northern Harrier [dorso-posterior view of male]: Photograph Credit: Rickey Shive; Savoyard, Metcalfe County, Kentucky; 17 March 2018.

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Abundance: Uncommon during fall, winter, and spring; Occasional during summer; recorded in all Regional counties (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are too few to determine a trend in the populations present in the Region (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Winter Resident; very small Summer Resident population on the Cumberland Plateau—and possibly elsewhere in Region—suspected to breed but unconfirmed as of 2016; photograph [ventral view of immature perched] (Roseanna M. Denton; Cooley's Pond, Wayne County, Kentucky; 2 December 2006).

Regional High Count and CBC/CBB High Count: 23 (31 December 2010; mostly near Bon Ayr, Barren County, Kentucky [Glasgow CBC]; David L. Roemer, Stephen J. Stedman); FBC/FBB High Count: 3 (4 October 2008; White County, Tennessee [FBC]; m. ob.); SBC/SBB High Count: 3 (24 April 1976; Putnam County, Tennessee [SBC]; m. ob.).

Out-of-Season (Summer) Records:

13/14 June 2011 (1/1—female-plumaged individuals) Smartt Mountain 1 block/Welchland 5 block (the distance between the locations of these sightings was estimated to be c. 13 km [8 mi]), Van Buren County, Tennessee (Stephen J. Stedman/Barbara H. Stedman), Van Buren County Foray records.

6 June 2013 (1) Barren County, Kentucky (Roseanna M. Denton), a Barren County Foray record.

2 July 2016 (1) Student's Home Rd., DeKalb County, Tennessee (Judy C. Fuson).

Regional Extreme Dates:

   Not provided because of the increasing presence of harriers during the breeding season.

Note: Fall arrival of migrants generally widespread by 25 October; spring departure generally complete by 5 April; Regional dates of earliest reported fall arrival and latest reported spring departure during winters from 2002–2003 to 2011–2012 follow:

* But see also Out-of-Season (Summer) Records (above).

Breeding: Possible (Recent); see Foray Results (below).

Habitat: Grasslands of many types.

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 6 (of 125) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 11 (of 206) check-lists during 2004, resulting in YardWatch frequency classifications of Very Uncommon and Uncommon, respectively; the latter YardWatch frequency  classification is consistent with the overall Regional abundance classification, but the former one is not.

Foray Results: A summary of data from UCR Forays follows (to view a map displaying foray data for a county or a sub-Region for this species, click on the name of an underlined county or state below):

* Because some foray blocks fall into two or three counties, the total of blocks in the Kentucky or Tennessee portions of the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the counties of each portion of the Region; similarly, because some blocks fall into both states, the total of blocks for the Region is less than the sum of the blocks in the two states.

Remarks: A Northern Harrier was observed near the White County Regional Airport during June of one of the first three years (1986, 1987, or 1988) of the Tennessee Breeding Bird Atlas project (Stephen J. Stedman pers. data); this record was not included in the atlas document (Nicholson 1997).

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Literature Cited