Circus ranivorus
Silhouette: Shyamal · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
The African marsh harrier (Circus ranivorus) is a bird of prey belonging to the harrier genus Circus. It is largely resident in wetland habitats in southern, central and eastern Africa from South Africa north to South Sudan.
African Marsh harrier females are larger than males and they are 44–47 centimetres (17–19 in) in length, with females being about 30% heavier than males (Simmons and Simmons 2000). Adults, (like the male bird right) have yellow eyes, but brown eyes when immature. Both sexes are mostly brown with pale streakings on the head, breast, forewing and rufous on the thighs and the belly. Adult males differ from females in that they have a pale grey wash to the dorsal secondaries and primaries. The female's are brown. The juvenile is dark brown and may have a pale breastband and pale markings on the head. The tail and flight feathers have dark barring at all ages, but this is rarely visible in the juvenile birds.
It resembles a small Eurasian marsh harrier but is slimmer and paler brown. It could be mistaken for an immature Montagu's harrier or pallid harrier, but the African marsh harrier can be readily distinguished from them by its lack of a white rump... Wikipedia →
Call0:41
South Africa · 2018
© Lynette Rudman · XC433948 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Akagera National Park | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 3 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 4 | Moremi Game Reserve | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 5 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 7 | Arusha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 8 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 9 | Lake Mburo National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 10 | Queen Elizabeth National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 11 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 12 | Tarangire National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 13 | Kidepo Valley National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 14 | Kafue National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 15 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 16 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 17 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 18 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 19 | Virunga National Park | 🇨🇩 Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
| 20 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 21 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 22 | Lake Nakuru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 23 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an African Marsh-Harrier sighting in Virunga National Park on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 301st most-seen of the 316 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report an African Marsh-Harrier in Virunga National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May to March, the lowest months. That is one of Virunga National Park's wettest months, with about 240 mm of rain against 15 mm in January.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most African Marsh-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.
19th of 23
Of the 23 parks where we can rate African Marsh-Harrier sightings, Virunga National Park ranks 19th at under 5%. The best odds are in West Coast National Park (South Africa, about 40%), Akagera National Park (Rwanda, about 10%) and Chobe National Park (Botswana, about 10%).
Same family: Accipitridae
The closest relatives of the African Marsh-Harrier that you can see in Virunga National Park (family Accipitridae, Hawks, Eagles, and Kites) are African Fish-Eagle (about 30%), Black Kite (about 20%) and Palmnut Vulture (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the African Marsh-Harrier is recorded against all the birds logged in Virunga National Park (6 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.
