various Hawks, Harriers and Buzzards

The AFRICAN GOSHAWK, Accipiter tachiro, is found over much of sub-Saharan Africa. Like its Goshawk relatives, the adult male develops a grey head/back and the female stays a reddish brown. The pictures above show juveniles - dark brown with a blotchy front; the adults have narrow horizontal bars on their fronts and an appearance more similar to the Eurasian Goshawk.

SWAINSON'S HAWK, Buteo swainsoni, is a buzzard (like the Ferruginous Hawk and the Red-tailed Hawk, buzzards are called hawks in North America). It ranges from Alaska through to Argentina and is migratory. Also hunting over grasslands, this small buzzard prefers grasshoppers/locusts and suffers from insecticides used to control them. It also takes voles/mice.

The SWAMP HARRIER, Circus approximans, also called the Pacific Marsh Harrier, Australasian Harrier, Swamp Hawk and New Zealand Hawk, is a marsh harrier from Australasia - throughout Australia (except central desert), New Zealand and many Pacific Islands. Brown with a white rump and white under-wing patches, prey includes mammals, birds, reptiles/amphibians and fish.