Long-winged Harrier

Long-winged Harrier

Circus buffoni

Silhouette: Shyamal · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~40% · Likely
at Iberá National Park

In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%

790 Verified sightings at Iberá National Park From 2019 to 2026
1,138 In all 6 parks
January Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Long-winged Harrier

The long-winged harrier (Circus buffoni) is a common bird of prey species endemic to South America. They are members of the family Accipitridae, under the genus Circus which encompasses other harrier species. Its range encompasses most of South America, in grassland and wetland all across the continent. The long-winged harrier is a carnivorous bird, and will feed on many different animals found in its habitat.

Like owls and other harrier species, the long-winged harrier has a distinctive facial disc, which is used to triangulate the bird's hearing while it is hunting. The long-winged harrier is classified as a species of least concern by the IUCN Red List, however their population has been observed to decline due to habitat degradation by human activity.

The long-winged harrier was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the falcons, eagles and their relatives in the genus Falco and coined the binomial name Falco buffoni. Gmelin based his description on the "Cayenne ringtail" that had been described in 1781 by the English ornithologist John Latham... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Flight call0:10

Brazil · 2023

© Douglas Meyer · XC779843 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:22

Brazil · 2022

© Miguel Angelo Biz · XC700093 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:29

Brazil · 2015

© Marcelo Villegas · XC288364 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Iberá National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~40%
2 Caroni Swamp 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
~30%
3 Emas National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
~30%
4 Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
5 Chapada Diamantina National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
6 Iguaçu National Park 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Curitiba 🇧🇷 Brazil
~10%
2 Cochabamba 🇧🇴 Bolivia
<5%
3 Buenos Aires 🇦🇷 Argentina
<5%
4 Porto Alegre 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
5 Campo Grande 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
6 Asuncion 🇵🇾 Paraguay
<5%
7 São Paulo 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Long-winged Harrier in Iberá National Park?

Likely

About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Long-winged Harrier sighting in Iberá National Park on a given day, based on 790 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 43rd most-seen of the 284 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Long-winged Harrier in Iberá National Park?

January

In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Long-winged Harrier in Iberá National Park on a given day, against about 30% in February–March, July–August and December, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Long-winged Harrier?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Long-winged Harrier sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Iberá National Park the best place to see a Long-winged Harrier?

Yes

Of the 6 parks where we can rate Long-winged Harrier sightings, Iberá National Park has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Caroni Swamp (Trinidad and Tobago, about 30%) and Emas National Park (Brazil, about 30%).

Where does the Long-winged Harrier sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Long-winged Harrier is recorded against all the birds logged in Iberá National Park (790 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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