Àlex Ollé and Joan Goy – Status change of the pallid harrier in western Europe. Implications in their identification and hybridizations.

Àlex Ollé and Joan Goy are passionate about birds of prey and their identification. Through photography, they have captured multiple images that they use to analyze the molts and date these wonderful birds. In this regard, they have just published a field guide: Ibéricas Diurnal Birds of Prey by Tundra publishing house.

One of the birds that has undergone a more significant change in status on the peninsula in recent years has been the pallid harrier Circus macrourus. In this workshop there will be a brief review of the evolution of the species in the last 25 years, how its distribution has spread through European Russia and up to Finland and how it has established a new migratory and wintering route in the west of Europe. The increase in citations across Europe implies identification problems, as well as cases of hybridization with the more abundant hen harrier and Montagu’s harrier. For this reason, unusual juvenile plumages of these species and also of some presumed hybrids will also be analysed, in order to provide the keys that allow them to be correctly identified.

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