Description:

Very like Pallid but with proportionately shorter legs and more horizontal stance; wing-tips reach tail-tip. Male has black band across secondaries, extensive black on underside of primaries, and rufous streaking on belly and underwing-coverts. Female is distinctly and evenly barred underside to primaries, with dark trailing edge.

Distribution:

Rare passage migrant in Gilgit-Baltistan, mainly through the western parts. Prefers open country in plains and foothills; semi-desert, grassy slopes, cultivation, scrub-covered plains and marshes. From lowlands up to 3000m.

Behavior:

Hunts like other harriers, with low, slow flight, quartering narrow strip of land in straight line upwind, and dropping onto prey; nearly always captures prey on ground. Generally preys on small ground birds, including many of their young in breeding season; small mammals when abundant. Lizards and large insects important in winter.

Photo Gallery:

Range & Occurrence:

Resident Species

Summer Breeder

Winter Visitor

Passage Migrant

Distribution Map of Montagu's Harrier in Gilgit-Baltistan (Status: )

Seasonal Occurrence of Montagu's Harrier

Resources:

Birds of Pakistan: Helm Field Guides (R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
The Birds of Pakistan (T. J. Roberts)
Birds of the Indian Subcontinent (C. Inskipp, R. Grimmett & T. Inskipp)
Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide (P. Rasmussen & J. Anderton)
Birds of India: Collins Field Guide (N. Arlott)
Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan (S. Ali & S. D. Ripley)
Handbook of the Birds of the World (https://www.hbw.com)
The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 6th Edition
iNaturalist BoGB (inaturalist.org/projects/birds-of-gilgit-baltistan)
Birds of Gilgit-Baltistan (http://fb.me/birdsgb)

*Gallery images on this page are shared from flickr.com, and are copyrighted to their respective creators or owners.