Feel free to capture or screenshot any image for personal use (Shift + Command + 4 on Mac) or (Windows + Shift + 4 on PC) : drag a box over your desired image, then drag or save to your desktop.. In lieu of payment, please consider making a donation to the SPCA Monterey County Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, Monterey Audubon Society, or an animal rescue group of your choosing. All Photographs by JH Kilbuck

Northern Harrier

Flying low and slow to locate prey over open fields and marshes, the Northern Harrier has become a favorite of wildlife photographers. Relying on an exceptional combination of both keen sight and acute hearing, they contour to the landscape in a way no other raptor does.

They exhibit some of the most striking sexual dimorphism of any raptor species in North America—so much so that a casual observer might easily mistake the male and female for entirely different species. Males are a sleek, pale ghost-gray with stark black wingtips, while the noticeably larger females sport a heavily camouflaged brown and buff plumage designed to blend into marshes, prairies, agricultural fields and other wide-open landscapes.

While their favorite food items are primarily small mammals, they are highly opportunistic hunters, and can occasionally be found with a reptile or amphibian.